i 


10- 


GIFT 
4     1918 


Fads 

Concerning 

The  Struggle  in 
Colorado 

for 

Industrial 
Freedom 


SERIES  I 


♦  !♦         ' 


r  OF  Th  r 

7:TK?1  7  ^-  K.vIT 


,c 


Issued  by  the  Coal  Mine  Managers 


Fa^s 

Concerning 

The  Struggle  in 
Colorado 

for 

Industrial 
Freedom 


SERIES  I 


^ :  \ 


Issued  by  the  Coal  Mine  Managers 


!V\v 


^ 


c 


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WHY   THESE    FACTS    ARE    PROMULGATED 

IT  is  of  the  utmost  importance  tiiat  every  American  citizen 
should  understand  what  has  really  been  going  on  in 
Colorado. 

The  facts  have  been  beclouded  w^ith  unusual  venom.  The 
position  and  the  activities  of  the  coal  mine  managers  have  been 
most  seriously  misrepresented. 

A  strike  w^as  forced  on  Colorado.  The  men  did  not  ask  for 
it ;  they  had  presented  no  grievances  to  their  employers. 

As  the  result  of  agitation  and  intimidation,  a  limited  number 
of  men  quit  work.  The  number  which  remained  at  work  never 
declined  to  less  than  55  per  cent,  of  the  total;  those  at  work 
on  September  1,  1914,  numbered  above  75  per  cent,  of  the  normal 
quota. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  a  knowledge  by  the  American  people 
of  the  facts  may  promote  permanent  and  healthy  industrial 
peace  throughout  the  United  States. 

COMMITTEE  OF  COAL  MINE  MANAGERS 

J.  F.  WELBORN, 

President,  Colorado  Fuel  and  Iron  Co. 

JOHN  C.  OSGOOD, 

Chairman,  Victor- American  Fuel  Co. 

D.  W.  BROWN, 

President,  Rocky  Mountain  Fuel  Co. 

Denver,  September  21, 1914 


369534 


WHAT  HAS  HAPPENED 

When  Vice-President  Hayes,  of  the  United  Mine  Work- 
ers of  America,  came  to  Colorado  in  August;  1913,  and  for 
several  years  prior  to  that  date,  conditions  in  the  coal 
mining  fields,  except  in  a  comparatively  small  district  im- 
mediately north  of  Denver,  had  been  satisfactory  to  both 
miners  and  operators. 

In  August,  1913,  there  were  employed  in  and  around  all 
the  coal  mines  of  the  State,  12,059  men.     About  60  per 
cent.,  or  7235,  of  these  men  were  engaged  in  ^actually  , 
mining  coal;  40  per  cent.,  or  4823  men,  were  otherwise 
engaged  in  the  industry. 

Those  employed  as  miners  never  worked  more  than  eight 
hours  a  day.  Many  worked  less,  or  not  at  all,  as  they  saw 
fit.  Those  employed  in  other  capacities  than  mining  coal 
worked  never  to  exceed  nine,  and  in  most  cases  eight,  hours 
a  day.    This  is  in  accordance  with  a  statute  of  the  State. 

The  total  monthly  earnings  of  these  miners  was  and  is 
astonishingly  large  compared  with  the  wages  paid  for 
work  requiring  no  higher  degree  of  skill  or  experience  in 
other  pursuits. 

For  the  year  ending  June  30,  1913,  the  mines  operated 
by  The  Victor-American  Fuel  Company  ran  an  average 
of  234^2  days;  the  average  wages  of  all  miners  for  the 
year  was  $1100.75;  the  average  daily  earnings  of  all  miners 
was  $4.01. 

For  the  same  period,  the  mines  of  The  Colorado  Fuel 
and  Iron  Company  ran  an  average  of  248%  days;  the 
average  wages  of  all  miners  for  the  year  was  $999.36 ;  the 
average  daily  earnings  of  all  miners  was  $4. 02. 

The  mines  operated  by  the  Eocky  Mountain  Fuel  Com- 
pany ran  an  average  of  231  days;  the  average  wages  of  all 
miners  for  the  year  was  $1007.01;  and  the  average  daily 
earnings  of  all  miners  $4.36. 

It  has  been  said  that  'Hhe  earnings  of  an  average  Ameri- 
can family  (of  which  two  members  are  employed)  are  less 
than  eight  hundred  dollars  a  year.^'  An  industrious  and 
experienced  coal  miner  can  average  at  least  $5.00  per  day, 
or  approximately  $1250.00  per  year,  in  the  mines  of  this 
State.     Many  have  done  much  better  than  this.     Four 


brothars,  Italians,  during  a  recent  year,  earned  more  than 
$1850.00  each. 

WYi&Q.  1J^e.pr-3deiii  strike  was  called,  the  emp^es  of  The 
Colorado  i^'uel  and  Iron  Company  had  on  deposit,  at  in- 
terest, with  the  Company,  $500,000.  And  it  is  a  notable 
fact  that,  notwithstanding  the  strike,  less  than  20  per  cent, 
of  these  savings  deposits  have  been  withdrawn. 

During  the  last  fiscal  year  preceding  the  strike  the  em- 
ployes at  The  Colorado  Fuel  and  Iron  Company  coal  mines 
received  80.9  per  cent,  of  the  earnings  in  cash.  Of  the 
19.1  per  cent,  of  all  earnings  deducted  by  the  company 
before  making  payment  to  the  men,  11.73  per  cent,  repre- 
sented purchases  at  -our  stores;  2.25  per  cent,  represented 
rent  of  houses  and  the  jremaining  5.12  per  cent,  covered 
coal,  board  at  the  various  boarding-houses  (none  of  which 
were  operated  by  the  company),  powder  and  the  arbitrary 
charge  of  50  cents  per  month  for  sharpening  tools.  During 
the  same  fiscal  year  The  Colorado  Fuel  and  Iron  Company 
mines  worked  an  average  of  248^/2  days.  The  miners' 
earnings  averaged  $4.02  per  day  and  $999.36  for  the  year. 


WHY  THE  MEN  WERE  SATISFIED. 

The  operation  of  company  stores  in  coal-mining  camps 
in  Colorado  has  been  as  advantageous  to  miners  as  to  coal 
companies,  as  these  stores  have  carried  stocks  of  goods  of 
the  character  required  by  miners,  and  prices  have  been  as 
low  and  lower  than  those  ruling  on  similar  goods  in  nearby 
towns  somewhat  removed  from  the  coal  camps. 

In  camps  of  The  Colorado  Fuel  and  Iron  Company  de- 
ductions made  on  pay-rolls  for  purchases  at  company  stores 
in  advance  of  pay-days  range  from  7  per  cent,  to  13  per 
cent,  of  total  pay-rolls,  the  remaining  87  per  cent,  to  93 
per  cent,  of  wages  being  paid  in  cash  twice  per  month.  The 
total  purchases  made  at  company  stores  by  employes  and 
others,  including  the  reductions  referred  to,  equal  22  per 
cent,  of  all  pay-rolls.  The  fact  that  the  company  stores 
of  the  Colorado  Fuel  and  Iron  Company,  for  example,  were 
conducted  upon  an  enlightened  and  liberal  basis  is  indicated 
by  the  fact  that  although  the  strike  was  in  progress  for 
nine  months  of  the  last  fiscal  year,  the  gross  earnings  of 
the  stores  actually  increased.  Even  strikers  continued  their 
patronage. 

In  addition  to  these  earnings,  payment  semi-monthly, 
eight-hour  day,  and  the  right  to  trade  where  they  pleased, 
the  miners  had  checkweighman  where  they  wanted  it.    It  is 


not  hard,  therefore,  to  understand  that  they  were  satisfied 
with  their  conditions  and  opposed  to  a  strike. 

The  expressions  of  satisfaction  with  conditions  and  op- 
position to  a  strike  on  the  part  of  the  miners  became  the 
strongest  during  the  period  of  agitation  immediately  fol- 
lowing the  arrival  of  Hayes,  vice-president  of  the  inter- 
national organization,  in  August.  At  some  of  the  mines 
the  men  expressed  these  semtiments  before  the  strike  took 
effect  in  signed  statements,  the  number  so  expressing  them- 
selves running  from  90  to  99  per  cent,  at  certain  mines. 


«     «     * 

ft 


THE  STRIKE  CONVENTION. 

The  so-called  convention  held  at  Trinidad,  September 
15th,  at  which  a  vote  on  the  strike  was  taken,  was  com- 
posed of  delegates  chosen  entirely  by  the  officers  of  the  or- 
ganization. 

The  number  of  delegates  was  made  up  largely  from  men 
who  had  been  on  strike  in  northern  Colorado  for  about 
three  and  a  half  years,  and  practically  all  of  the  remainder 
had  either  never  worked  at  the  mines  whose  employes  they 
claimed  to  represent,  or  had  sought  and  secured  a  few  days' 
work  immediately  preceding  the  strike  and  then  attended 
the  convention  as  delegates  from  those  mines  without  hav- 
ing been  chosen  by  the  men  whose  interest  they  claimed  to 
serve. 

The  vote  of  the  mock  convention,  made  up  of  dele- 
gates selected  by  the  leaders — and  not  by  the  miners  inter- 
ested— was  for  a  strike  unless  the  operators  would  submit 
to  their  seven  demands,  which  were  as  follows: 

1st.     Eecognition  of  the  union. 

2d.     An  increase  of  10  per  cent,  in  wages. 

3d.  An  eight-hour  workday  for  all  classes  of  labor  in  or 
around  the  coal  mines  and  at  coke  ovens. 

4th.     Payment  for  narrow  work  and  dead  work. 

5th.     Checkweighmen. 

6th.  The  right  of  the  miners  to  trade  wherever  they 
pleased,  the  right  to  choose  their  own  boarding  place,  and 
their  own  doctor. 

7th.  "Enforcement  of  the  Colorado  Mining  laws  and 
tlie  abolition  of  the  notorious  and  criminal  guard  system." 


The  first  demand,  recognition  of  the  union,  involved  a 
contract  between  operators  and  the  labor  organization, 
under  the  terms  of  which  the  operators  would  have  been 


required  to  collect  from  its  employes  and  remit  to  the  labor 
organization,  all  dues,  fines  and  assessments  that  the  or- 
ganization saw  fit  to  levy  against  the  workmen. 

The  90  per  cent,  of  coal  miners — then  non-union — would 
have  been  required  to  join  the  organization  or  leave  the 
employ  of  the  companies  where  they  had  been  working  for 
years.  This  demand,  involving  as  it  did  the  absolute  clos- 
ing of  the  "open  shop"  which  has  always  prevailed  in  the 
Colorado  coal-mining  fields,  the  operators  would  not  con- 
sider. 

II. 

As  Colorado's  coal-mining  scale  was  already  about  20 
per  cent,  higher  than  the  scale  in  districts  with  which  the 
Colorado  coal  competes,  the  granting  of  the  second  request 
for  an  increase  in  wages  would  have  been  little  short  of 
business  suicide.  Moreover,  Colorado  miners  were  earning 
better  wages  than  miners  in  any  other  part  of  the  United 
States,  not  excepting  Wyoming,  whose  scale  is  nominally 
higher  than  that  in  Colorado. 

III. 

An  eight-hour  workday,  the  third  demand,  had  been 
given  to  the  men  before  required  by  law. 

IV. 

The  fourth  demand,  payment  for  narrow  work  and  dead 
work  of  various  kinds,  had  been  the  practice  for  many 
years,  and  as  evidence  that  the  men  were  not  being  robbed, 
we  can  point  to  their  earnings  of  from  $100  to  $190  per 
month,  where  they  worked  practically  full  time. 


Checkweighmen,  the  fifth  demand,  had  for  many  years 
been  the  privilege  of  the  miners  without  interference,  and 
at  some  properties  checkweighmen  were  employed  by  the 
men. 

VI. 

The  men  had  enjoyed  the  right,  without  prejudice 
against  them,  of  trading  wherever  they  pleased,  and  were 
privileged  to  choose  their  own  boarding  place,  the  com- 
panies, with  possibly  few  exceptions,  not  operating  board- 
ing-houses; but  as  to  doctor,  most  of  the  larger  companies 
had  a  well-organized  and  conducted  hospital  department, 
to  which  all  men  were  required  to  contribute  $1  per  month, 
that  entitling  them  to  free  medical  and  hospital  attendance 
for  themselves  and  families. 


VII. 

The  general  coal-mining  law,  prepared  by  a  committee 
of  operators  and  representatives  of  the  miners,  and  passed 
at  the  session  of  the  Legislature  which  adjourned  a  few 
months  prior  to  the  strike,  is  considered  second  to  none  in 
the  United  States,  particularly  in  the  protection  it  affords 
to  mine  workmen. 

This  law  did  not  become  operative  until  after  the  strike 
vote,  but  no  fair-minded  resident  of  the  State  doubts  the 
ability  of  the  regularly  constituted  authorities  to  secure  its 
enforcement  without  the  aid  of  the  labor  organization. 


THE   STRIKE   IS   CALLED. 

Almost  immediately  after  the  strike  vote,  threats  were 
freely  made  against  those  who  were  at  work,  that  if  they 
did  not  respond  to  the  strike  call  they  would  be  subjected 
to  acts  of  violence,  and  in  some  cases  the  threats  went  so 
far  as  to  hold  out  death  as  the  result  to  those  who  continued 
at  work. 

This  naturally  caused  thousands  of  men  who  had  pre- 
viously declared  their  honest  intention  of  continuing  at 
work,  to  reconsider  their  determination  and  cease  work. 

Probably  two  to  three  thousand  men  left  the  State  and 
sought  employment  in  other  fields  where  there  was  no  dis- 
turbance. 

The  number  of  men  employed  at  all  coal  mines  in  Col- 
orado in  September,  1913,  was  12,346.  The  number  em- 
ployed in  October  was  7696. 

The  reduction  in  force,  representing  the  total  number 
that  responded  to  the  strike  call,  was  4650,  or  less  than  38 
per  cent. 

In  November  the  number  employed  in  coal  mines  had 
increased  to  8016,  and  in  December  to  9665.  In  March, 
1914 — the  last  month  before  the  outbreak  at  Ludlow  on 
April  20th,  the  total  number  of  employes  at  coal  mines  was 
10,146,  or  79  per  cent,  of  the  number  employed  in  the 
month  of  March,  1913. 

These  men  produced  82  per  cent,  of  the  March,  1913, 
output,  indicating  that  the  better  class  of  men  remained  at 
work. 

«     ♦     ♦ 

INCITEMENT  TO  VIOLENCE. 

The  purchase  of  firearms  by  representatives  of  the  United 
Mine  Workers  of  America  commenced  before  the  strike 


vote  had  been  taken  and  at  a  time  when  the  organization 
leaders  were  stating  for  publication  that  the  calling  of  the 
strike  would  depend  entirely  upon  the  men  interested  and 
that  it  was  then  uncertain  whether  or  not  there  would  be 
one. 

Within  a  short  time  after  the  strike  took  effect,  from 
1500  to  2000  men  in  southern  Colorado  were  fully  armed 
and  making  almost  daily  attacks  upon  mine  property  and 
employes. 

In  the  six  weeks  after  the  calling  of  the  strike  and  before 
the  militia  had  taken  complete  charge  of  the  strike  district, 
ten  coal-mine  employes  had  been  killed,  almost  all  of  them 
from  ambush  and  in  cold  blood,  while  in  the  repulse  of 
attacks  made  by  the  striking  forces  upon  those  employed  in 
the  mines,  four  of  their  number  were  killed. 

The  bands  of  armed  strikers  were  generally  led  by  Greeks, 
many  of  whom  had  never  worked  in  the  coal  mines.  Many 
of  these  leaders  in  the  armed  attacks  were  known  to  have 
had  no  connection  whatever  at  any  time  with  the  coal- 
mining companies. 

4e      ♦      « 

PEOTECTING  THE  MINES. 

The  operators  had,  in  view  of  what  was  obviously  to  be 
the  program  of  the  strike  leaders,  employed  at  all  of  their 
more  important  properties  from  half  a  dozen  to  fifteen 
armed  guards  to  protect  the  mine  equipment  and  defend 
the  workmen  against  the  assaults  of  the  strikers. 

The  operators  were  compelled  to  employ  these  men;  it 
was  not  of  their  choosing.  The  necessity  for  it  was  being 
daily  demonstrated.  Their  right  to  do  so  was  not  denied. 
And  at  this  point  it  should  be  made  as  positive  as  language 
can  make  it,  that  these  so-called  company  guards  were 
selected  with  the  utmost  care,  after  an  investigation  as  to 
their  former  experience,  habits,  and  efficiency  as  peace 
officers. 

At  the  request  of  the  Governor  of  the  State,  they  were 
uniformly  directed  never  to  leave  the  property  of  the  oper- 
ators except  when  on  legitimate  business  elsewhere,  and 
these  directions  were  with  like  uniformity  invariably 
obeyed.  Not  a  single  instance  can  be  shown  where  a  coal 
company  guard  deliberately  left  his  station  and  attacked, 
much  less  injured,  any  striking  miner. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  mines  nearest  to  the 
tent  colonies  were  several  miles  away,  and  that  in  order 
to  encounter  any  of  these  much-slandered  mine  employes 
the  strikers  were  compelled  to  go  from  two  to  four  miles 


10 


from  the  tent  colonies  where  they  were  living.  No  pos- 
sible difficulty  could  ever  have  arisen  between  the  strikers 
and  the  guards  of  the  operators  unless  the  strikers  elected 
to  trespass  upon  company  property ;  and  even  then,  no  case 
has  been  established  where  a  company  guard  fired  upon 
strikers  except  in  defense  of  himself,  the  property  and  the 

men. 

*     ♦     ♦ 

THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR. 

From  the  early  part  of  November  and  after  the  State 
Militia  had  assumed  charge  of  the  district,  comparative 
quiet  prevailed,  and  many  of  those  who  had  responded  to 
the  strike  call  through  fear,  returned  to  work  feeling  that 
the  presence  of  the  militia  in  the  field  made  it  safe  for 
them  to  do  so. 

The  military  forces  were  gradually  reduced  until  on 
April  20th  a  small  detachment  of  less  than  fifty  men  re- 
mained. These  were  stationed  at  and  in  the  vicinity  of 
Ludlow.  On  the  morning  of  April  20th  they  were  at- 
tacked by  the  strikers  and  their  leaders  from  the  Ludlow 
tent  colony. 

It  was  supposed  that  all  of  the  women  and  children  had 
been  removed  to  places  of  safety,  as  the  soldiers  had  ob- 
served an  exodus  of  women  and  children  from  the  tent 
colony.  The  fight  between  the  militia  and  their  opponents 
continued  throughout  the  day,  and  during  the  battle  the 
tent  colony  was  destroyed,  the  fire  having  apparently  started 
from  an  explosion  within  one  of  the  tents  while  the  soldiers 
were  some  distance  away. 

When  it  became  known  that  all  of  the  women  and  chil- 
dren had  not  been  removed  from  the  tents,  militiamen, 
while  under  heavy  fire  from  the  strikers,  rescued  several 
women  and  children  from  burning  tents. 

The  next  morning  it  was  found  that  two  women  and 
eleven  children  had  been  suffocated  in  a  cave  into  which 
they  had  been  taken  and  the  opening  to  which  had  been 
completely  closed.  Evidence  of  a  doctor  at  the  military 
court-martial  held  in  Denver  showed  that  the  occupants 
of  this  cave  were  dead  before  the  tent  over  it  had  been 
burned. 

On  April  23d,  John  R.  Lawson,  international  board 
member  of  the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America,  and  one 
of  the  leaders  of  the  striking  forces  in  Colorado,  in  an  in- 
terview published  throughout  the  State,  asserted  that  a 
war  of  extermination  would  thenceforth  be  conducted  by 
the  strikers. 


11 


On  the  day  previous,  a  virtual  declaration  of  insurrection 
was  formally  proclaimed  throughout  the  State.  That  proc- 
lamation was  as  follows : 


A  CALL  TO  EEBELLION. 

Denver,  Colo.,  April  22,  1914. 

Organize  the  men  in  your  community  in  com- 
panies of  volunteers  to  protect  the  workers  of  Colo- 
rado against  the  murder  and  cremation  of  men, 
women  and  children  by  armed  assassins  in  the  em- 
ploy of  coal  corporations,  serving  under  the  guise 
of  state  militiamen. 

Gather  together  for  defensive  purposes  all  arms 
and  ammunition  legally  available.  Send  name  of 
leader  of  your  company  and  actual  number  of  men 
enlisted  at  once  by  wire,  phone  or  mail,  to  W.  T. 
Hickey,  Secretary  of  State  Federation  of  Labor. 
Hold  all  companies  subject  to  order. 
People  having  arms  to  spare  for  these  defensive 
measures  are  requested  to  furnish  same  to  local  com- 
panies, and,  where  no  company  exists,  send  them  to 
the  State  Federation  of  Labor. 

The  State  is  furnishing  us  no  protection  and  we 
must  protect  ourselves,  our  wives  and  children  from 
these  murderous  assassins.     We  seek  no  quarrel  with 
the  State  and  we  expect  to  break  no  law;  we  intend 
to   exercise  our   lawful  right   as   citizens   to    defend 
our  homes  and  our  constitutional  rights. 
(Signed), 
JOHN  E.  LAWSON,  International  Board  Mem- 
ber, Dist.  15,  U.  M.  W.  A.,  also  president 
State  Federation  of  Labor. 
JOHN    Mclennan,    President    Dist.    15,    U. 

M.  W.  A. 
E.  L.  DOYLE,  Secretary-Treasurer  Dist.  15,  U. 

M.  W.  A. 
JOHN   RAMSAY,    National    Organizer,    U.    M. 

W.  A. 
W.  T.  HICKEY,  Secretary  State  Federation  of 

Labor. 
E.  R.  HOAGE. 
T.  W.  TAYLOR. 
CLARENCE  MOOREHOUSE. 
ERNEST    MILLS,    Secretary-Treasurer,    W.    F. 
of  M. 


For  about  ten  days  thereafter  armed  bodies,  varying  in 
number  from  50  to  400,  attacked  the  town  of  Delagua  from 
the  hills  and  killed  three  men. 


12 


They  dynamited  and  burned  buildings  and  equipment 
at  the  Empire,  Southwestern  and  Green  Canon  mines  at 
Aguilar,  driving  several  men,  women  and  children  into  the 
Empire  mine  and  sealing  the  entrance  with  explosives. 
They  kept  up  an  almost  continuous  fire  from  entrenchments 
for  about  fifty  hours  upon  the  Walsen  and  Eobinson  mines 
near  Walsenburg. 

These  two  mines  closed  down  during  this  siege,  and  the 
men  working  in  and  about  the  mine,  to  the  number  of  160, 
took  up  arms  in  defense  of  their  lives  and  the  property, 
thereby  forming  the  real  protective  force  at  these  mines. 

After  the  arrival  of  the  militia  in  Walsenburg  the  battle 
was  continued  between  the  strikers  and  the  militia,  in  which 
a  surgeon  wearing  a  Red  Cross  insignia  was  killed  while 
attending  a  wounded  soldier  on  the  field.  Later  his  body 
was  robbed  and  two  or  more  shots  fired  into  it. 

They  attacked  the  Chandler  mine  near  Canon  City  and 
kept  up  a  merciless  fire  from  the  hills  for  nearly  forty 
hours,  killing  one  man  and  finally  taking  possession  of 
the  camp  by  gaining  admittance  under  a  white  flag.  They 
attacked  the  Hecla  mine  in  Boulder  County,  killing  one 
man  and  wounding  three. 

Several  hundred  of  them  marched  on  the  Forbes  mine  in 
the  early  morning  of  April  29th,  and  in  their  attack  on  it 
killed  nine  employes,  slaughtered  all  of  the  mules,  num- 
bering thirty-three,  burned  the  barn,  boarding-houses  and 
several  other  buildings. 

*     *     * 
THE  GRAND  JURY^S  FINDINGS. 

These  acts  of  violence  were  subjected  to  a  thorough  in- 
vestigation by  the  Grand  Jury  of  Las  Animas  County, 
which  submitted  its  findings  to  Judge  A.  W.  McHendrie 
on  August  28,  1914.  Those  findings  speak  for  themselves. 
The  Grand  Jury  said  in  part : 

"The  evidence  produced  before  us  clearly  shows  that  the 
crimes  under  consideration  were  committed  by  armed  mobs, 
acting  in  pursuance  of  well-defined,  carefully  matured 
plans,  having  for  their  object  the  destruction  of  property 
and  human  life. 

"These  mobs  were  composed  of  members  of  the  United 
Mine  Workers  of  America  and  their  known  sympathizers. 

"An  even  more  significant  fact  is  that  the  organization 
in  question,  through  its  chief  officers  in  this  State,  bought 
and  paid  for  and  furnished  to  its  members  the  arms  and 
ammunition  used,  organized  and  led  the  mobs  and  directed 
the  execution  of  the  various  crimes. 


13 


"It  also  appears  that  the  members  of  these  mobs  when 
injured  in  the  course  of  their  criminal  enterprises,  were 
cared  for  and  secreted  by  the  officers  of  the  organization, 
and  at  its  expense. 

"It  is  significant  also,  that  all  of  the  various  affrays  re- 
ferred to,  with  the  exception  of  the  one  occurring  at  Ludlow 
on  April  20,  1914,  occurred  at  such  distances  from  the 
abodes  of  the  striking  miners  as  to  preclude  any  claim  that 
the  latter  were  defending  themselves  or  their  homes. 

"It  appears  also  that  the  leaders  responsible  for  the  con- 
duct of  the  strike  are  in  large  part  men  from  other  States, 
who  apparently  came  here  for  the  sole  purpose  of  assuming 
charge  of  the  situation  on  behalf  of  the  United  Mine  Work- 
ers of  America,  and  to  direct  the  course  of  the  armed  con- 
flict with  the  officers  of  this  county  and  of  the  State  of 
Colorado. 

"It  is  also  a  matter  of  common  knowledge  shared  by  the 
members  of  this  Grand  Jury  with  other  residents  of  this 
county,  that  the  funds  for  the  prosecution  of  this  organized 
insurrection,  are  derived  from  assessments  levied  upon  la- 
boring men,  members  of  the  organization  in  other  States, 
and  from  voluntary  contributions  from  members  of  labor 
organizations  and  charitable  persons  throughout  the  United 
States. 

"From  the  systematic  misrepresentation  of  the  facts  by 
the  officers  of  the  United  Mine  "Workers  of  America,  and  by 
a  portion  of  the  press  of  this  State,  it  is  reasonable  to  sup- 
pose that  these  contributions  were  made  in  the  mistaken 
belief  that  they  were  to  be  used  for  the  subsistence  of  per- 
sons rendered  destitute  by  unemployment  due  to  the  strike. 

"The  evident  fact  is,  however,  that  they  were  largely 
used  in  the  purchase  of  firearms  and  ammunition  to  be  used 
by  the  strikers  in  a  campaign  of  violence,  designed  to  secure 
compliance  with  their  demands  through  terror  induced  by 
the  destruction  of  life  and  property." 

In  addition  to  this  presentment,  the  Grand  Jury  returned 
indictments  against  a  considerable  number  of  officers  and 
members  of  the  United  Mine  Workers,  charging  the  com- 
mission of  murder,  arson  and  other  crimes. 

WHAT   THE   FUTUEE   HOLDS. 

Since  May  Federal  troops  have  patrolled  the  entire  coal- 
mining region.  The  union  leaders  have  made  it  plain  to 
the  men  that  there  must  be  no  attack  against  troops  of  the 
United  States  Government.     If  the  union  leaders  had  co- 


14 


operated  as  heartily  with  the  State  authorities  as  they  have 
done  with  the  Federal  troops,  there  would  have  been  no 
serious  violence. 

The  coal  operators  are  seeking  to  make  conditions  at 
their  mines  as  attractive  as  possible.  The  fact  that  the 
number  of  men  returning  to  work  is  constantly  increasing 
attests  the  success  of  their  efforts. 

On  September  1,  1914,  about  9500  men  were  at  work. 
Fully  one  thousand  old  employes  returned  to  work  of  their 
own  accord  during  the  month  of  August, 

*     *     * 

PRIME    FACTORS 

In  every  aspect  of  this  dispute  these  facts  must  be  borne 
in  mind: 

1.  That  this  strike  was  not  a  spontaneous  expression 
of  discontent  by  the  men;  they  had  been  in  the  main 
quietly  and  contentedly  at  work  for  ten  years — earning  the 
highest  wuges  paid  to  coal  miners  anywhere  in  the  world. 

2.  The  strike  represented  a  carefully  planned  conspir- 
acy by  an  organization  outside  of  the  State  of  Colorado,  to 
force  these  men  to  quit  work  and  thereby  to  establish  the 
regime  of  that  organization  at  these  mines. 

3.  No  serious  demand  for  any  change  in  working  con- 
ditions was  made  other  than  that  the  organization  be  "rec- 
ognized.*' That  showed  there  was  no  substantial  cause  of 
complaint. 

4.  The  real  reason  for  demanding  "recognition"  was 
not  to  better  the  condition  of  the  men,  but  through  the 
"check-off"  system  to  lay  tribute  to  the  wages  of  these  men 
for  the  benefit  of  an  organization  the  bulk  of  whose  inter- 
ests lay  more  than  a  thousand  miles  away. 

5.  The  coal  mine  managers  are  not  responsible  for  the 
failure  of  the  State  of  Colorado  to  afford  effective  police 
protection.  The  mine  employes  have  been  entirely  dis- 
armed. 

6.  Only  a  fraction  of  the  men  at  any  time  quit  work, 
while  to-day  sufficient  men  are  at  work  to  prevent  any 
failure  in  the  coal  supply  or  any  unusual  price.  In  other 
words,  the  public  convenience  is  not  at  stake. 

7.  The  presence  of  Federal  troops  in  Colorado  is  at  the 
request  of  the  Governor  of  Colorado,  and  the  policy  in- 
volved in  their  remaining  there  is  a  matter  for  settlement 
between  the  State  of  Colorado  and  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment. 

8.  The  large  number  of  men  now  at  work  are  peaceably 
pursuing  their  labor,  asking  only  to  remain  unmolested. 

15 


9.  Any  sacrifice  of  principle  in  favor  of  those  still  per- 
sisting in  idleness  must,  from  the  public  standpoint,  be 
regarded  as  a  price  paid  to  induce  them  to  refrain  from 
riot.  There  is  no  reason  based  on  public  interest  which 
demands  their  return  to  work. 

10.  The  repudiation  of  the  strike  by  a  large  majority  of 
the  men,  the  protection  of  the  public  coal  supply,  and  the 
fact  that  the  men  have  given  as  many  indications  of  their 
present  satisfaction  with  conditions  would  appear  effectu- 
ally to  dispose  of  any  reason  why  a  surrender  should  be 
made  to  a  few  men  who  have  been  led  to  believe  them- 
selves justified  in  attaining  their  ends  by  violence. 

*     *     * 

The  difficulties  of  the  situation,  however,  will  be  realized 
from  the  foregoing  as  well  as  from  the  bulletins  issued  by 
the  coal-mine  managers,  explaining  different  phases  of  the 
stril^e. 

That  the  public  may  the  better  understand  these  diffi- 
culties, those  bulletins  are  reprinted  herewith. 


16 


THE  STRUGGLE  IN  COLORADO 
FOR  INDUSTRIAL  FREEDOM 

BULLETIN   No.   1  JUNE  22,    1914 


THE   PRINCIPLE  AT  STAKE 

In  order  to  set  forth  specifically  the  real  issue  at 
stake  in  Colorado,  independently  of  any  personal 
relations,  the  managers  of  the  coal  mines  in  that 
State,  other  than  the  Colorado  Fuel  and  Iron  Co., 
have  addressed  a  letter  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  presenting  their  position.  In  brief, 
that  letter  sets  forth  these  facts: 

The  aggregate  production  of  our  mines  is  between  sixty  and 
seventy  per  cent,  of  the  total  annual  coal  production  of 
Colorado.  Neither  John  D.  Rockefeller  nor  John  D. 
Rockefeller,  Jr.,  nor  any  controlling  stockholder  in  the  direc- 
tory or  officer  in  the  Colorado  Fuel  and  Iron  Company  has 
any  interest. 

In  the  present  issue  we  are  not  opposing   or  >vaging  a  \rar 
against  organized  labor  as  such. 

Since  this  strike  was  called,  certain  of  our  former  employes, 
under  the  leadership  of  the  paid  agents  and  oflScers  of  the  United 
Mine  Workers,  supplied  with  guns  purchased  with  moneys 
from  its  treasury,  have  in  armed  force  openly  and  successfully 
defied  our  State  government  and  have  caused  a  state  of 
insurrection  and  anarchy  to  prevail  in  this  commonwealth. 

We  submit  with  all  deference  that  we  ought  not  to  be 
asked  to  deal  with  an  organization  whose  officers,  leaders  and 
members  have  been  guilty  of  these  acts. 

The  military  forces  of  the  United  States  are  now  in  control 
of  the  strike  districts  in  Colorado,  and  we  earnestly  and 
respectfully  ask  that  law  and  order  be  made  to  prevail  in  this 
State  to  the  end  that  we  may  operate  our  mines  and  conduct 
our  business  in  that  peaceable  and  orderly  manner  guaranteed 
to  every  law-abiding  citizen,  and  that  our  workmen  may 
pursue  their  lawful  avocations  and  reside  at  their  homes  without 
the  constant  fear  of  death  at  the  hands  of  lawless  mobs. 


THE  LETTER  TO  THE  PRESIDENT 

The  letter  forwarded  by  the  managers  in  full  is 
as  follows : 

May  4,  1914. 
TO  HIS  EXCELLENCY, 

The  President  of  the  United  States, 
Washington,  D.  C. 

In  order  that  you  may  be  more  fully  informed  with 
reference  to  our  position  respecting  the  so-called  United  Mine 
Workers  of  America,  we  deem  it  proper  and  timely  to  advise 
you  as  follows  : 

We  each  operate  independently  of  the  other  and  of  the 
Colorado  Fuel  and  Iron  Company.  The  aggregate  production 
of  our  mines  is  between  sixty  and  seventy  per  cent,  of  the 
total  annual  coal  production  of  Colorado.  Neither  John  D, 
Rockefeller  nor  John  D.  Rockefeller,  Jr.,  nor  any  controlling 
stockholder  in  the  directory  or  officer  in  the  Colorado  Fuel 
and  Iron  Company  has  any  interest. 

Our  position  with  respect  to  the  United  Mine  Workers 
of  America  is  absolutely  independent  of  that  which  has  been 
or  hereafter  may  be  taken  either  by  the  Colorado  Fuel  and 
Iron  Company  or  by  its  officers  or  directors  or  by  Mr. 
Rockefeller  or  John  D,  Rockefeller,  Jr.,  although  w^e  heartily 
endorse  the  position  they  are  now  taking. 

DEPLORE  UNJUST  ATTACfC 

We  deplore  the  unjust  attack  upon  Mr.  Rockefeller.  It  is 
neither  fair  nor  just  to  him  nor  to  us  to  place  the  burden  nor 
give  him  sole  credit  for  the  position  we  are  maintaining. 
Independent  of  any  stand  he  has  taken  or  may  take,  we  have 
endeavored  to  strive  and  must  continue  to  fight  for  the  main- 
tenance of  fundamental  principles  of  government  and  law. 

In  the  present  issue  w^e  are  not  opposing  or  w^aging  a 
war  against  organized  labor  as  such. 

We  are,  however,  unalterably  of  the  conviction  that  we 
can  never  recognize  nor  have  any  dealings  of  any  kind  with 


18 


the  organization  purporting  to  be  a  labor  union  and  calling 
itself  the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America. 

Prior  to  September  23»  1913,  Colorado,  as  to  its  coal 
mining  industry,  was  open  shop  territory.  The  men  in  our 
mines  are  contented,  industrious  and  law-abiding  citizens. 
For  a  number  of  years^the  United  Mine  Workers  had  made 
sporadic  efforts  to  unionize  the  Colorado  coal  mines,  but  with- 
out success.  For  a  few  years  prior  to  April,  1910,  the 
operators  in  a  small  district  in  Northern  Colorado  entered 
into  contractual  relations  with  this  organization,  but  their  ex- 
perience was  so  disastrous  they  were  forced  to  discontinue. 

After  having  conducted  an  unsuccessful  strike  in  the 
Northern  Colorado  fields  since  April,  1910,  the  national  officers 
of  the  United  Mine  Workers  determined  in  the  summer  of 
1913  that  the  time  was  opportune  to  again  inaugurate  a 
campaign  to  force  the  Colorado  operators  to  enter  into  a  con- 
tract with  it,  and  thereby  require  them  to  coerce  their  employes 
into  becoming  members  thereof. 

To  effect  these  purposes,  they  sent  a  large  number  of 
their  paid  labor  agitators  from  other  States  into  Colorado. 
The  membership  roll  of  this  organization  in  district  fifteen,  of 
which  Colorado  is  a  part,  at  that  time  contained  the  names  of 
2048  out  of  a  total  of  23,000  men  employed  in  the  coal 
mining  industry  in  that  district. 

MEETING  OF  AGITATORS 

The  agitators  mentioned  and  certain  delegates  of  their 
selection  met  in  a  so-called  convention  at  Trinidad,  in  Sep- 
tember, 1913,  and  called  a  strike  of  our  workmen,  by  threats 
and  intimidation,  by  incendiary  and  anarchistic  speeches,  and 
through  fear  of  bodily  injury  or  death  many  of  our  employes 
were  induced  to  go  on  strike. 

This  strike  was  in  its  inception,  and  alw^ays  has  been,  a 
strike  for  union  recognition  only. 

Other  pretended  demands  formulated  at  the  so-called  con- 
vention at  Trinidad  were  fully  guaranteed  by  our  statutes. 
The  coal  mining  code  of  Colorado  is  the  most  strict  and  com- 
prehensive of  that  of  any  State,  and  was  prepared  and  approved 
by  a  committee,  one  of  whom  was  John  Lawson,  leader  of 
the  present  strike,  and  another  of  whom  was  James  Daly- 
rimple,  State  coal  mine  inspector  and  a  member  of  organized 
labor.  Our  statutes  are  enforceable  and  have  been  and  are 
being  enforced. 

Since  this  strike  was  called,  certain  of  our  former  employes, 
under  the  leadership  of  the  paid  agents  and  officers  of  the  United 
Mine  Workers,  supplied  with  guns  purchased  with  moneys 
from  its  treasury,  have  in  armed  force  openly  and  successfully 

19 


defied  our  State  government  and  have  caused  a  state  of 
insurrection  and  anarchy  to  prevail  in  this  commonwealth. 

They  have  burned  our  mines,  driven  law-abiding  citizens 
and  their  families  from  their  homes  and  murdered  our 
employes. 

They  have  denied  to  us  and  to  our  employes  all  rights 
and  privileges,  according  to  the  laws  and  constitutions  of  the 
State  of  Colorado  and  of  the  United  States. 

They  have  even  presumed  to  refuse  to  comply  with  the 
demand  of  the  United  States  army  officers,  without  taking 
a  referendum  vote  of  all  their  members  in  Colorado,  to  sur- 
render to  the  military  forces  of  the  United  States  the  arms 
with  which  they  have  committed  these  felonies. 

We  submit  with  all  deference  that  we  ought  not  to  be 
asked  to  deal  with  an  organization  whose  officers,  leaders  and 
members  have  been  guilty  of  these  acts. 

Such  sympathy  as  exists  in  their  behalf  is  based  upon 
either  a  lack  of  information  or  the  mass  of  misinformation  and 
misrepresentation  contained  in  recent  issues  of  the  public  press. 

CANNOT  REMOVE  MINES 

There  are  today  employed  by  the  owners  of  coal  mines 
in  this  State  more  than  10,000  men.  TTiey  and  their  wives 
and  children  live  in  villages  many  of  which  have  within  ten 
days  sustained  the  rifle  fire  of  about  1500  members  of  the 
United  Mine  Workers  of  America. 

We  cannot  remove  our  mines  to  other  places,  and  we 
will  not,  unless  forced  to  do  so,  close  them  at  the  behest  of  a 
comparatively  few  members  of  a  lawless  organization  and  set 
adrift  the  loyal  employes  now  upon  our  payrolls. 

If  the  2000  members  of  the  organization  now  militant 
in  this  State  do  not  care  to  work  in  our  mines,  it  is  their  privi- 
lege to  decline  to  do  so  and  go  elsewhere  into  unionized  fields 
where  there  are  conditions  more  to  their  liking;  and  the 
officers  of  the  organization  to  which  they  belong  will  once  and 
for  all  settle  the  unrest  which  prevails  here  if  they  will  expend 
some  small  portion  of  their  funds  to  remove  their  dissatisfied 
members  from  this  field  instead  of  further  increasing  their 
lavish  expenditure  in  the  promotion  of  strife  and  bloodshed. 

The  issue  in  Colorado  has  ceased  to  be,  if  it  ever  w^as, 
one  between  capital  and  labor.  In  our  judgment  no  question 
of  the  rights  of  organized  labor  is  now  involved. 

By  the  use  of  the  vicious  checkoff  system,  the  leaders  of 
the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America  have  coerced  thousands 
of  industrious  and  law-abiding  citizens  into  joining  their  or- 
ganization, and  these  leaders,  by  precept  and  example,  have 
converted  these  men  into  enemies  of  organized  government. 

20 


Thii  organization,  by  force  of  numbers,  by  its  control  of 
labor,  and  by  virtue  of  the  millions  of  dollars  forcibly  collected 
from  its  members,  has  become  so  powerful  that  its  leaders  are 
now  defying  organized  society  to  thwart  its  plan  to  rule  or  ruin. 

By  their  criminal  acts  the  leaders  of  the  United  Mine 
Workers  of  America  have  forfeited  any  claim  that  organi- 
zation may  ever  have  had  to  be  considered  a  labor  union,  and 
have  foreclosed  any  right  it  may  ever  have  possessed  as  a  pre- 
tended labor  union,  to  demand  that  we  have  business  dealings 
with  it. 

We  respectfully  submit  that  the  one  and  the  only  question 
now  at  issue  in  this  State  is  one  of  law  and  order  and  the 
maintenance  of  the  constitutional  privilege  of  every  man  to 
work  within,  where,  for  whom  and  upon  such  terms  as  he  sees  fit. 

Shall  government  prevail,  or  shall  anarchy  and  law- 
lessness rule? 

We  are  and  at  all  times  have  been  engaged  in  a  lawful 
business,  and  we  are  Conducting  and  have  always  conducted 
our  business  in  a  lawful  manner. 

The  military  forces  of  the  United  States  are  now  in  con- 
trol of  the  strike  districts  in  Colorado,  and  we  earnestly  and 
respectfully  ask  that  law  and  order  be  made  to  prevail  in  this 
State  to  the  end  that  we  may  operate  our  mines  and  conduct 
our  business  in  that  peaceable  and  orderly  manner  guaranteed 
to  every  law-abiding  citizen,  and  that  our  workmen  may 
pursue  their  lawful  avocations  and  reside  at  their  homes  without 
the  constant  fear  of  death  at  the  hands  of  lawless  mobs. 
(Signed) 

THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  FUEL  COMPANY, 

By  David  W.  Brown,  President. 

THE  VICTOR-AMERICAN   FUEL  COMPANY, 

By  G.  F.  Gartlett,  Jr.,  Vice-President. 

THE  OAKDALE  COAL  COMPANY, 

By  Wm.  B.  Lewis,  President. 

THE  SOUTH  CANON  COAL  COMPANY, 

By  Harry  F.  Nash,  General  Manager. 

THE  PRIMROSE  COAL  COMPANY, 

By  H.   B.  King,  President. 

THE  RUGBY  FUEL  COMPANY, 

By  George  D.  Kimball,  General  Manager. 

THE  HUERFANO  COAL  COMPANY, 

By  S.  S.  Murphy,  President. 

FRUTH    AND     AUTREY,     THE     CONSOLIDATED 
COAL  AND  COKE  COMPANY,  g^  ^    l.  Baum. 

THE  ROUTT  COUNTY  FUEL  COMPANY, 

By  E.  L.  Prentiss,  President. 

THE  YAMPA   VALLEY   COAL   CO., 

By  F.  M.  Peltier,  President. 

HAYDEN   BROS.   (jUNIPER  MINe), 

By  Lewis  A.  Hayden. 

21 


THE  STRUGGLE  IN  COLORADO 
FOR  INDUSTRIAL  FREEDOM 

BULLETIN  No.   2  JUNE  27,   1914 


DISARMING  STRIKERS  AND 
MINE  GUARDS 

In  order  that  the  people  of  Colorado  and  the  pub- 
lic generally  might  understand  conditions  with 
which  the  militia  and  the  mine  operators  were 
confronted  in  the  strike  zone  of  Colorado,  Briga- 
dier General  John  Chase,  commanding  the  mili- 
tary district  of  Colorado,  has  submitted  a  compre- 
hensive report  to  the  Governor,  giving  a  full 
account  of  the  military  occupation  of  the  strike 
zone. 

In  that  report.  General  Chase  has  this  to  say 
with  reference  to  his  efforts  to  disarm  the  strikers 
and  the  mine  guards : 

"  On  the  31st  day  of  October,  the  third  day  of  the  occu- 
pation, when  the  estabHshment  of  the  military  camps  was  well 
under  way,  I  undertook,  pursuant  to  Your  Excellency's  express 
directions,  to  disarm  both  sides  of  the  conflict  that  I  found 
raging  upon  my  arrival. 

*'  Realizing  that  in  the  event  of  the  concealment  of  their 
weapons  I  would  have  great  difficulty  in  disarming  the  com- 
batants, I  consulted  the  strike  leaders,  including  John  R. 
Lawson,  and  obtained  from  them,  and  especially  from  him, 
an  assurance  that  if  I  first  disarmed  the  mine  guards  employed 
through  the  Baldwin-Felts  Detective  Agency  to  guard  the 
operators*  properties,  the  strikers  would  then  cheerfully  sur- 
render the  arms  in  their  possession. 

"  It  must  be  remembered  that,  upon  our  first  coming 
into  the  field,  the  National  Guard  had  at  least  the  ostensible 
welcome  and  apparent  cordial  co-operation  of  the  striking 
miners. 

"  Relying  upon  the  assurances  given  me  by  Mr.  Lawson 
and  the  other  strike  leaders,   I  proceeded  to  disarm  the  mine 

22 


guards  upon  the  various  properties  against  whom  the  most 
bitter  feeling  of  the  strikers  prevailed. 

"In  the  disarmament  of  these  guards  I  had  no  difficulty 
whatever.  They  were  assembled  by  their  employers,  the 
operating  companies,  and  promptly  turned  over  the  high- 
power  rifles  with  which  they  had  been  supplied. 

'  This  disarmament  I  carried  on  with  respect  to  the  mine 
guards  and  employes  of  the  operating  companies  in  every  camp 
throughout  the  entire  strike  zone,  and  speedily  finished  the 
complete  disarmament  of  that  side  of  the  industrial  conflict. 

"It  was  arranged,  upon  the  completion  of  the  disarma- 
ment of  the  operators,  that  the  military  receive  the  arms  of 
the  strikers,  and  accordingly,  upon  the  1st  of  November, 
1913,  by  an  agreement  between  myself  and  the  strike  leaders, 
a  parade  of  the  troops  to  the  tent  colony  at  Ludlow,  by  far 
the  largest  of  the  strikers*  colonies,  was  arranged. 

**  From  all  appearances  the  very  best  feeling  prevailed 
between  the  troops  and  the  strikers.  I  paraded  detachments 
of  the  troops  of  various  arms  within  Las  Animas  County  at 
the  Ludlow  tent  colony,  upon  the  suggestion  and  invitation 
of  the  strike  leaders,  including  Mr.  Lawson. 

PLANS  TO  DEVELOP  GOOD  FEELING 

"  My  object  was  not  only  to  receive  the  arms  of  the 
strikers,  as  promised,  but  to  occupy  peaceably  and  with  good 
feeling  the  strategic  points  in  the  canons  about  Ludlow,  which 
the  presence  of  so  large  a  body  of  armed  men  might  have 
made  difficult  of  accomplishment  without  bloodshed,  had  my 
entrance  been  disputed. 

"The  parade  of  the  troops  at  the  Ludlow  tent  colony 
was  memorable.  The  road  for  a  half-mile  or  more  between 
the  point  of  detraining  and  the  entrance  to  the  colony  was 
lined  on  either  side  by  men,  women  and  children.  Many  of 
the  men  were  in  the  strange  costumes  of  the  Greek,  Monte- 
negrin, Servian,  and  Bulgarian  armies;  for  the  colony  num- 
bered among  its  inhabitants  many  returned  veterans  of  the 
Balkan  wars. 

"The  little  children  were  dressed  in  white,  as  for  a 
Sunday-school  picnic.  All  carried  small  American  flags  and 
sang  continually   the  Union  songs.      Through   this    line   of 

23 


men,  women  and  children  the  troops  paraded — infantry,  cavalry 
and  field  artillery.  Flags  were  waved  in  welcome,  and  an 
improvised  band  of  the  strikers  heralded  our  approach. 

*'We  passed  by  Ludlow,  occupied  the  Berwind  and 
Hastings  canons,  and  then  returned  to  the  colony  to  receive 
the  surrender  of  the  hundreds  of  high-power  rifles  I  knew  the 
strikers  to  be  possessed  of. 

FIRST  INSTANCE  OF  BAD  FAITH 

*' At  this  point  occurred  the  first  instance  of  bad  faith  on 
the  part  of  the  striking  people.  Expecting  to  receive  hundreds, 
if  not  thousands  of  arms,  there  were  delivered  into  my  pos- 
session some  twenty  or  thirty  weapons,  many  of  them  of 
obsolete  pattern,  the  strikers  topping  off  the  humor  of  the 
situation  by  including  in  the  delivery  of  arms  a  child's  toy 
pop-gun. 

"  Since  that  time  the  recovery  of  the  strikers'  arms  has 
been  attended  with  the  greatest  difficulty ;  it  has  been  a  game 
of  hide-and-seek,  and  whjle  I  have  been  able  to  recover,  a  few 
at  a  time,  a  large  number  of  high-power  weapons,  belonging 
to  the  union,  from  various  hiding  places,  I  will  state  that  there 
are  hundreds  of  guns  still  concealed  and  waiting  occasion  for  use. 

"  In  the  meantime  I  had  upon  my  hands  a  large  number 
of  the  mine  guards  whom  I  had  disarmed,  and  who,  being 
defenseless,  in  the  presence  of  enemies  thirsting  for  their 
blood,  had  to  receive  protection. 

"These  mine  guards  I  undertook  to  ship  out  of  the  strike 
zone.  For  that  purpose  I  assembled  a  number  of  them  in 
Trinidad.  On  the  evening  of  the  31st  of  October  I  had  in 
the  Coronado  Hotel  at  Trinidad  a  number  of  mine  guards 
who  had  been  disarmed  and  were  awaiting  a  train  to  take  them 
out  of  the  country. 

"  Notwithstanding  the  representations  made  to  me  con- 
cerning the  disarmament  of  the  detested  mine  guards,  and  when 
I  had  rendered  them  helpless  by  disarming  them,  all  of  which 
was  known  to  the  striking  miners,  a  great  crowd  gathered 
around  the  Coronado  Hotel  in  which  these  disarmed  men 
were  contained,  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  reeking  condign 
vengeance  upon  their  enemies,  thus,  as  they  supposed,  delivered 
into  their  hands. 

24 


THE  CORONADO  HOTEL  RIOT 

**  Some  five  or  six  hundred  men  assembled  around  the 
Coronado  Hotel  with  the  express  design  of  killing  the  disarmed 
and  defenseless  guards  within.  This  is  what  is  known  as  the 
Coronado  Hotel  riot. 

"Notwithstanding  all  of  the  fair  promises  of  Mr.  Lawson 
and  other  strike  leaders  that  induced  me  to  disarm  the  mine 
guards  first,  they  then  rather  gleefully  assured  me  that  they 
could  not  control  their  people,  and  that  the  feeling  among  the 
strikers,  thirsting  for  the  blood  of  the  mine  guards,  was  such 
as  could  not  be  stayed  by  any  influence  of  the  leaders. 

"I  found  it  necessary  upon  this  occasion  to  assemble 
infantry  and  cavalry  in  the  streets  of  Trinidad,  and  to  disperse 
the  mob  thus  bent  upon  wholesale  murder,  and  to  protect  the 
disarmed  mine  guards  until  they  could  take  the  train  out  of  the 
district.  Fortunately,  I  was  able  to  quell  this  riot  and  prevent 
large  loss  of  life  without  bloodshed  or  other  serious  con- 
sequences than  a  few  arrests. 

A  RECORD  OF  MISREPRESENTATION 

'*  From  this  time  forward,  from  the  breach  of  faith  con- 
cerning the  disarmament  until  this  day,  the  history  of  the 
strike  leaders  has  been  a  record  of  bad  faith,  subterfuge,  mis- 
representation and  chicanery  with  the  military  forces  of  the 
State,  who  entered  the  field  taking  no  sides,  having  no  interest 
in  the  industrial  conflict,  intent  only  upon  preserving  the  peace 
and  guaranteeing  the  constitution,  until  by  these  methods  the 
striking  miners  have  come  to  look  upon  the  National  Guard 
as  a  foe,  in  league  with  their  antagonist,  and  the  Guard  has 
come  to  know  that  no  faith  can  be  placed,  and  no  honesty  or 
integrity  of  purpose  can  be  found,  in  the  strikers'  camps  as 
conducted  by  their  present  leaders. 

And  I   say  this  having  no  interest  whatsoever  in  the 
industrial  conflict  still  raging." 


25 


THE  STRUGGLE  IN  COLORADO 
FOR  INDUSTRIAL  FREEDOM 

BULLETIN   No.    3  JULY   1,    1914 

WHAT  A  SMALL  COAL  MINE 
OWNER  SUFFERED 

As  a  typical  instance  of  the  attitude  of  the  smaller 
coal  mine  operators  of  Colorado,  Senator  Thomas, 
of  Colorado,  presented  to  the  United  States 
Senate,  on  June  12,  1914,  a  statement  he  had  re- 
ceived from  the  Sunnyside  Mining  Company. 
Senator  Thomas  said : 

This  company  is  a  small  concern ;  it  has  been  reasonably 
prosperous,  and  has  had  trouble  with  no  one  anywhere.  This 
is  the  statement  which  the  company  makes,  through  its  oflficers, 
of  itf  attitude  as  one  of  the  coal  producers  of  southern  Col- 
orado, of  the  consequences  which  the  strike  has  visited  upon 
it,  and  its  reasons  for  the  conclusions  which  it  has  reached 
regarding  arbitration. 

This  statement  is  signed  by  W.  F.  Cakes,  the  president 
of  the  company — a  very  upright  and  respected  citizen  of  the 
city  of  Denver,  and  one  who  justly  enjoys  the  confidence  and 
respect  of  all  who  know  him.     He  says  : 

"The  property  of  the  Sunnyside  Coal  Mining  Co.  is  situated  in 
Huerfano  County,  Col.,  12}4  miles  northwest  of  Walsenburg. 

"The  land  operated  comprises  480  acres,  with  three  veins  of  bi- 
tuminous coal,  5,  6}4t  and  7}^  feet  in  thickness,  respectively.  Capacity 
is  700  tons  daily. 

"The  owners  are  W.  F.  Oakes,  Ellen  Terry  Strong,  and  Milo  W. 
Strong.  The  company  is  not  affiliated  with  any  outside  interest.  The 
executive  head  of  the  business  is  the  president,  W.  F.  Oakes,  with 
general  offices  in  the  Gas  and  Electric  Building. 

ALWAYS  FAIR  TO  LABOR 

"The  Sunnyside  mines  have  worked  for  10  years  on  the  open-shop 
plan,  making  no  distinction  between  union  and  non-union  labor,  and  select- 
ing men  best  qualified  to  fill  the  various  positions. 

"Prior  to  the  strike  call  on  September  23,  1913,  not  a  single  com- 
plaint had  been  made  to  the  company  by  its  employes,  either  collec- 
tively or  individually,  as  to  wages,  hours,  company  store,  company 
doctor,  unsanitary  conditions,  or  unsafe  conditions  in  or  about  the 
mine — three  men  in  10  years  killed.  The  few  minor  individual  com- 
plaints were  always  promptly  considered  and  adjusted. 

"The  average  wage  in  August,  1913,  just  prior  to  the  strike,  was 
$4.12^  per  man  per  8-hour  day. 

26 


**  On  Saturday,  September  20,  1913,  every  man  was  paid  off,  and 
the  president,  W.  F.  Oakes,  personally  asked  every  man  that  stepped 
up  to  the  pay  window  if  he  had  any  grievance  against  the  company, 
and  in  every  case  the  answer  was  *  No.*  They  simply  responded  to 
the  strike  call  of  the  national  organization  for  the  *  general  cause' 
(whatever  that  was  the  men  did  not  seem  to  know). 

"Early  in  November  we  re-opened  the  mine  with  strictly  non-union 
labor,  under  a  strong  protection  of  the  Colorado  National  Guard,  and 
continued  throughout  the  entire  winter  and  until  April  18,  when  we 
shut  down  temporarily  for  repairs. 

"  A  day  or  so  later  came  the  reports  of  the  Ludlow  trouble,  and  the 
*  call  to  arms.' 

ATTACKED  BY  ARMED  STRIKERS 

"  On  Friday,  April  24, 1914,  a  wild  mob  of  250  armed  strikers  swooped 
down  upon  only  16  people  left  in  our  camp,  and  drove  them  into  the  hills. 
They  continued  in  complete  possession  until  May  6, 1914. 

"The  company  store  was  completely  wrecked  (inside),  the  entire 
front  broken  in,  the  entire  stock  of  general  merchandise  stolen  ($15,- 
000),  the  post  office  robbed  of  everything — money,  stamps,  letters,  and 
parcel-post  packages.  The  company  boarding  house  was  pillaged, 
the  men's  clubrooms  looted,  and  every  building  in  the  camp  was  en- 
tered and  everything  of  value  taken  or  destroyed,  a  total  loss  of  $26,000. 
*    *    *    * 

ENLIGHTENED  CONDITIONS 

"  The  management  of  the  Sunnyside  mines  prided  themselves  for 
years  that  they  had  established  such  favorable  conditions  at  their 
mines  that  they  were  enabled  to  procure  the  very  best  element  of  labor 
in  the  field. 

"Our  company  boarding  house,  with  a  capacity  of  100 men,  was 
constructed  entirely  with  a  view  to  comfort.  Every  room  in  the  house 
was  provided  with  a  hot-water  radiator,  the  floors  were  always  kept 
clean  ;  in  front  of  each  bed  was  a  rug  ;  each  bed  had  two  sheets,  two 
pillowcases,  one  woolen  blanket,  two  cotton  comforters.  The  entire 
building  was  lighted  with  electric  lights. 

"  In  the  dining  room  we  served  but  one  table,  seating  every  man  at 
once.  We  employed  the  best  Jap  cooks,  and  used  only  the  very  best 
materials  for  our  table. 

"  In  the  basement  of  this  cement  building  we  had  bath  arrange- 
ments, hot  and  cold  running  water  into  porcelain  bowls,  something 
unheard  of  in  any  mining  camp  in  Colorado. 

■X-     *     ♦     * 

"  In  addition  to  this,  we  established  a  reading  room  and  supplied 
all  of  the  papers  and  periodicals  free.  We  also  established  a  library 
containing  250  books,  and  furnished  the  men  with  free  stationery  and 
envelopes. 

"  We  also  furnished  a  hot  bath  adjacent  to  the  mine  for  those  that 
desired  it. 

"  Our  schoolhouse  is  owned  and  maintained  by  the  company,  and 
was  supplied  with  every  modern  appliance. 

"  We  also  established  a  miners'  clubroom,  to  combat  the  evil  of 
the  ordinary  camp  saloon.  A  great  deal  of  money  was  spent  in 
making  this  a  comfortable  loafing  place  for  the  men,  and  the  hours  in 
which  they  could  buy  drinks  were  limited  from  4.30  in  the  afternoon 
to  10.30  at  night.  These  goods  were  sold  to  the  men  at  a  low  figure, 
with  a  view  only  of  securing  sufficient  profit  to  maintain  a  manager  of 
the  place. 

27 


''During  working  hours  of  the  mine  these  clubrooms  remained 

closed,  also  on  Sundays. 

*  It     *     * 

MINERS'  CLUBROOMS  WRECKED 

"The  miners'  clubrooms  were  completely  wrecked  and  all  stock 
stolen,  pictures  taken  from  the  walls,  phonograph  records,  chessboards, 
the  cloth  on  the  billiard  table  ruined,  the  cues  and  balls  stolen,  the 
barbershop  equipment  badly  damaged. 

"In  the  reading  room  magazines  and  books  were  mutilated,  thrown 
outside,  and  every  condition  that  had  been  created  for  the  comfort  of 
our  employes  was  wantonly  disregarded. 

"Our  experiments  along  these  lines,  after  studying  the  sociological 
conditions  of  mineri  for  23  years,  proved  beyond  any  question  of 
doubt  that  our  theories  in  regard  to  improving  the  social  conditions 
and  uplifting  the  social  plane  were  mere  vagaries. 

"Our  most  earnest  efforts  were  simply  rewarded  by  our  final  de- 
struction, and  at  the  hands  of  those  whom  we  endeavored  to  benefit. 

"The  only  apparently  unansw^erable  obstacle  to  a  settlement  w^ith 
these  strikingr  miners  is  the  recognition  of  the  union,  as  almost  every 
other  material  difference  betw^een  the  operator  and  the  miner  is  covered 
by  the  existing  law. 

"There  is  no  law  compelling  the  operator  to  recognize  the  union 
nor  to  permit  the  employes  to  exact  that  recognition.  The  statute  does 
provide,  however,  for  the  right  of  the  employe  to  join  a  union,  if  he  so 
desires,  without  coercion  or  interference.  We  do  not  deny  the  right 
of  our  men  to  organize,  so  long  as  they  do  not  interfere  with  our  pre- 
rogatives to  employ  non-union  labor  when  we  so  desire  it. 

*  *    *    * 

"We  will  never  agree  to  any  contract  that  will  oblige  us  to  discharge 
the  non-union  men  now^  in  our  employ." 


28 


THE  STRUGGLE  IN  COLORADO 
FOR  INDUSTRIAL  FREEDOM 

BULLETIN  No.   4  JULY  6,    1914 

HOW  A  CONGRESSMAN  VIEWS 
THE  SITUATION 

Speaking  before  the  House  of  Representatives  at 
Washington,  on  June  13,  1914,  Congressman 
George  Kindel,  of  Colorado,  gave  utterance  to 
many  important  facts  in  the  coal  strike  situation. 
Below  are  a  few  extracts  from  that  speech,  as 
published  in  the  Congressional  Record.  The 
order  in  which  the  passages  appear,  the  subheads, 
and  the  typographical  emphasis  are  for  the  purposes 
of  this  reprint,  although  the  text  of  the  original 
is  followed  absolutely.     Mr.  Kindel  said  in  part: 

Mr.  Speaker,  it  may  seem  a  new  role  for  me  to  appear  as 
the  defender  of  corporations.  Much  of  my  hfe  has  been  de- 
voted to  what  I  have  believed  to  be  just  criticism  of  many 
corporate  abuses.  But  there  are  times  when  a  position  assumed 
by  even  corporate  interests  is  correct. 

The  position  of  these  Colorado  operators  is  correct.  It 
deserves  and  shall  receive  my  approbation  and  support.  I 
know  the  men  who  say,  '  We  cannot  enter  into  negotiations 
of  any  character  with  the  oflScers  and  agents  of  the  United 
Mine  Workers  of  America,  who  alone  are  responsible  for  the 
terrible  reign  of  disorder  and  bloodshed  which  has  disgraced 
this  State.* 

HOW  TO  RESTORE  PEACE 

"These  men  mean  what  they  say.  There  will  be  neither 
negotiation  nor  compromise.  I  agree  with  them  as  they  pro- 
ceed, instead  of  it  being  our  duty  to  do  so,  we  conceive  it 
rather  to  be  the  duty  of  the  officials  of  the  United  Mine 
Workers  of  America,  who  called  the  strike,  to  call  it  off;  they 
can  do  so  if  they  see  fit,  and  BY  SO  DOING  THEY  WILL, 
WITHIN  AN  HOUR,  IN  A  GREAT  MEASURE.  RE- 
STORE INDUSTRIAL  PEACE  AND  PROSPERITY  TO 
THIS  STATE.'  But  this  they  have  neither  the  courage  nor 
disposition  to  do. 


29 


True  labor  and  wisely  conducted  labor  unions  have  no 
better  friend  than  I,  for  I  am  a  member  of  a  union  that  has 
accomplished  much  good.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  I  am 
compelled  to  denounce  the  methods  of  the  particular  labor 
organization  which  has  brought  disgrace,  industrial  blight, 
and  almost  financial  ruin  upon  my  State. 
*    *    *    * 

•*Mr.  Speaker,  the  Colorado  coal  strike  was  not  inaugu- 
rated by  the  men  actually  at  work  in  the  mines,  nor  be- 
cause of  the  existence  of  any  conditions  w^hich  might  afford 
just  ground  for  dissatisfaction  among  them. 

'*  Coal  mining  is  universally  recognized  as  a  hazardous  and 
dangerous  business,  especially  in  a  district  where  the  dry  at- 
mosphere is  more  conducive  to  the  creation  of  dust  and  roof 
conditions  to  falls  than  in  many  other  localities.  But  general 
conditions  in  the  mines  in  Colorado  were  exceptionally  favor- 
able to  the  miners  when  this  calamity  was  thrust  upon  our 
State. 

CHARACTER  OF  THE  MINE  OWNER 

"The  mine  owner  is  neither  a  brute  nor  a  fool ;  he  will 
not  knowingly  subject  his  property  to  destruction  nor  his  men 
to  unnecessary  danger.  Selfish  interests  alone  dictate  a  con- 
trary policy.  Aside  from  this,  I  may  say  that  I  am  person- 
ally acquainted  with  many  of  the  operators  of  my  State,  and 
I  know  them  to  be  honorable  and  humane  men,  who  entertain 
a  keen  solicitude  for  the  welfare  of  their  employes. 

"They  have  done,  and  are  doing,  much  looking  to  the 
health  and  well-being  of  their  men  and  the  safety  of  their 
properties.  That  the  miners  knew  and  appreciated  this  is 
evidenced  by  the  tenacity  with  which  more  than  10,000  con- 
tinue to  work  in  the  face  of  intimidation,  violence,  and  per- 
sonal danger  to  themselves  and  their  families. 

•*IT  WAS  THE  AGITATOR,  NOT  THE  MINER, 
WHO  COMPLAINED  AND  WHO  HAS  WROUGHT  ALL 
THIS  HAVOC.  And  for  what.? — simply  and  solely  to  compel 
the  operators  to  recognize  the  United  Mine  Workers  of 
America. 

"And  what  does  this  mean.''  It  means  that  the  owner  of 
every  coal  mine  in  the  State  must  enter  into  a  written  contract 
with  this  organization,  and  thereby  agree,  in  effect,  to  employ 
only  members  of  that  union,  and  to  deduct  from  the  pay  roll 
of  every  such  member  all  union  dues,  fines,  and  assessments 
for  which  the  member  may  be  indebted,  and  then  remit  this 
sum  to  union  headquarters. 

WHAT  THE  UNION  DEMANDS 

"To  be  more  specific,  these  agitators  and  leaders,  the  rep- 
resentatives of  not  to  exceed  2000  striking  men,  say  to  the 

30 


mine  owners  of  my  State,  *You  must  discharge  every  one  of 
your  10,000  loyal  and  satisfied  workmen  unless  they  join  the 
United  Mine  Workers  of  America,  and  if  they  join,  you  must 
deduct  from  their  pay  roll  such  amounts  as  we  may  hereafter 
see  fit  to  assess  against  them,  and  send  it  to  the  union  treasury 

to  use  as  we  see  fit/ 

*  *    ^    * 

IMPORTATION  OF  AGITATORS 

"  Prior  to  the  calling  of  this  strike  no  substantial  differences 
existed  between  the  mine  owners  and  their  workmen.  There 
had  been  no  State-wide  labor  trouble  for  10  years;  only  2048 
out  of  a  total  of  23,000  miners  in  Colorado,  New  Mexico,  and 
Utah  were  members  of  the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America. 
But  the  officers  of  this  organization  proceeded  to  import  into 
Colorado  a  horde  of  paid  professional  agitators  and  agents 
with  the  avowed  purpose  of  circulating  among  the  miners  and 
injecting  into  their  minds  a  spirit  of  discontent  and  dissatis- 
faction with  their  employers  and  the  conditions  under  which 
they  were  working. 

"Several  weeks  ago,  at  a  time  when  the  emissaries  of  the 
United  Mine  Workers  of  America  were  trying  to  make  it  ap- 
pear that  Mr.  John  D.  Rockefeller,  Jr.,  was  responsible  for  and 
had  the  power  to  terminate  the  Colorado  coal  strike,  the  distin- 
guished chairman  of  the  investigating  committee  of  this  House 
telegraphed  Mr.  Rockefeller  that  Mr.  Green,  secretary-treas- 
urer of  the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America,  had  made 
public  a  statement  announcing  that  the  demand  for  recognition 
of  the  union  would  be  waived,  and  it  was  suggested  to  Mr. 
Rockefeller,  in  view  of  this  circumstance,  that  negotiations  be 
entered  into  looking  to  a  settlement. 

"  Mr.  Green  was  immediately  called  upon  by  the  miners 
of  Illinois,  then  in  convention  at  Peoria,  to  explain  what  he 
meant  by  making  such  a  statement.  He  answered  by  denying 
that  such  an  announcement  had  ever  been  made  by  him,  and 
asserted  that  under  no  circumstances  would  union  recognition 
be  waived  in  Colorado.  More  recently,  on  June  6th,  John 
R.  Lawson,  in  charge  of  the  strike,  with  headquarters  at 
Denver,  reiterated  the  oft-repeated  '  No  peace  without  recog- 
nition of  the  union.' 

*  *    *    * 

FIGHTING  FOR  THE  RIGHT  TO  WORK 

'*  The  necessity  for  the  maintenance  of  the  open  shop, 
for  which  the  mine  owners  of  Colorado  are  fighting,  involves 
a  principle  far  from  local  in  its  character. 

'*  If  this  country  is  to  endure,  at  least  in  its  present  form, 
the  constitutional  right  of  every  man  to  work  for  whom,  when, 
and  upon  such  terms  as  he  sees  fit  must  be  preserved,  and  the 

31 


employers  of  labor  in  Colorado  who  are  standing  for  this  prin- 
ciple deserve,  instead  of  denunciation,  the  encouragement  and 
support  of  every  patriotic  citizen.  It  will  be  a  sad  day  for  our 
country  when  men  decline  to  fight  to  a  finish  for  a  principle. 

*    *    *    * 

THE  REMEDY 

"There  is  but  a  single  effective  remedy — let  maudlin 
sympathy  for  those  who  stand  in  open  rebellion  against  con- 
stituted authority  be  banished. 

"LET  ALL  GOOD  CITIZENS  ENCOURAGE  AND 
ASSIST  THE  OFFICERS  OF  THE  LAW  IN  FAITH- 
FULLY AND  RIGOROUSLY  EXECUTING  THE  STAT- 
UTES AND  CONSTITUTIONAL  PROVISIONS  OF  THE 
STATE  OF  COLORADO  AND  OF  THE  UNITED 
STATES. 

"  In  this  way,  and  in  this  way  only,  under  existing  con- 
ditions, can  the  rights  of  all  parties  be  restored  and  preserved 
and  the  dignity  of  a  great  State  and  the  greatest  country  on 
earth  be  maintained." 


32 


THE  STRUGGLE  IN  COLORADO 
FOR  INDUSTRIAL  FREEDOM 

BULLETIN  No.   5  JULY   11,   1914 


THE  REAL  MEANING  OF  THE 
COLORADO  STRIKE 

In  order  to  define  the  issues  at  stake,  the  coal 
mine  managers  have  forwarded  to  Washington  a 
summary  of  conditions  in  the  coal  mines  of  Col- 
orado. This  summary  has  been  sent  to  the  Sub- 
Committee  of  the  Committee  on  Mines  and 
Mining  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  which 
has  been  investigating  these  conditions.  The 
summary  consists  of  an  extensive  pamphlet,  some 
salient  extracts  from  which  are  as  follows : 


"The  present  controversy  is  not  a  strike,  for  the  reasons  : 
First,  the  employes  did  not  vote  to  call  a  strike ;  second,  the 
majority  of  the  miners  did  not  walk  out  on  the  call,  less  than 
25  per  cent,  responding  thereto. 

"  In  addition  to  those  who  responded  to  the  call,  probably 
10  per  cent.,  desiring  to  free  themselves  from  the  war  threat- 
ened by  the  call  of  the  strike,  left  the  State.  More  than 
60  per  cent,  of  the  men  remained  at  their  posts  of  duty. 

"INSTEAD  OF  A  STRIKE,  THIS  CONTROVERSY  IS 
AN  ARMED  INSURRECTION  AGAINST  THE  SOV- 
EREIGN AUTHORITY  OF  THE  STATE  OF  COLORADO, 
CONCEIVED,  PLANNED,  FINANCED,  MANAGED  AND 
DIRECTED  BY  THE  OFFICERS  AND  LEADERS  OF  THE 
UNITED  MINE  WORKERS  OF  AMERICA. 


LOCATING  PICKETS 

"The  coal  field  in  question,  where  the  greatest  amount  of 
disturbance  had  occurred  up  to  the  commencement  of  this 
investigation,  is  located  in  Las  Animas  and  Huerfano  Counties. 

"  In  this  area  are  located  about  50  operating  mines  affected 
by  the  strike.  Many  of  these  mines  are  located  in  canyons  in 
the  mountainside. 

33 


Occasionally  a  canyon  accommodates  several  mines. 
The  only  means  of  ingress  or  egress  other  than  the  canyons 
mentioned  is  over  the  rugged  mountains. 

Now,  in  the  same  area  in  which  the  mines  above  men- 
tioned are  situated,  there  were  located  by  these  organizers  and 
leaders  (most  of  whom  are  non-residents  of  the  State  of  Col- 
orado, and  few  of  whom  ever  mined  a  ton  of  coal  in  any  of 
the  mines  of  Colorado)  10  tent  colonies,  and  anyone  studying 
the  location  of  these  several  tent  colonies  is  convinced  that 
they  were  not  located  by  chance,  but  by  most  careful  design ; 
for  each  tent  colony  is  located  where  it  controls  the  traveling 
way  to  one  or  more  coal  mines,  and  it  is  practically  impossible, 
and  has  been  so  ever  since  the  23d  day  of  September,  1913, 
for  any  person  to  get  in  or  out  of  any  mine  in  the  district 
mentioned  without  passing  the  scrutiny  of  some  one  or  more 
tent  colonies,  which  colonies,  from  the  foundation  thereof  to 
the  present,  have  been  surrounded  by  armed  strikers  every 
moment  of  the  time  except  when  the  military  forces  have  been 
in  the  field. 

"And  from  these  several  tent  colonies  armed  bodies  of 
men  almost  daily  sally  forth  and  commit  some  act  of  violence, 
when  not  kept  under  subjugation  by  military  power.  The 
number  and  variety  of  the  crimes  committed  by  them  is 
simply  appalling. 


And  these  crimes  have  been  committed  for  the  alleged 
purpose  of  bettering  the  condition  of  about  14,000  miners 
who  were  living  in  good  homes,  under  pleasant  environment, 
with  good  school  advantages,  and  earning  wages  averaging 
better  than  $4.00  per  day. 


TEN  THOUSAND  MEN  NOW  AT  WORK 

'  But  it  is  a  question  if  the  day  of  possible  settlement  has 
not  now  forever  passed.  There  are  about  10,000  miners  now 
at  work  in  the  coal  fields  of  Colorado.  There  are  probably 
from  1500  to  2000  on  the  strike. 

"Those  on  the  strike,  together  with  their  confederates, 
some  of  whom,  for  purposes  of  violence,  have  come  from 
States  adjacent  to  Colorado,  have  so  often  attacked  and  fired 
upon  the  miners  now  working  in  the  coal  fields  that  it  is 
impossible  to  put  those  two  warring  elements  to  work  in  the 
same  mines. 

**  If  the  striking  miners  are  to  be  returned  to  work,  those 
now  working  must  necessarily  leave  the  mines. 

34 


"They  fear  that  the  striking  miners,  should  they  be  in- 
ducted into  the  mines  with  them,  will  watch  their  opportunity 
to  assassinate  them  or  catch  them  in  some  serious  mine  dis- 
aster. It  has  been  reported  to  them  that  such  threats  have 
been  made  and  they  believe  they  would  be  carried  out. 


♦*  A  RECOGNITION  OF  THE  UNITED  MINE  WORKERS 
OF  AMERICA,  WITH  ITS  CHECK-OFF  SYSTEM, 
CLOSES  ALL  THE  MINES  OF  COLORADO  TO  ALL 
WORKMEN  WHO  DO  NOT  BECOME  MEMBERS  OF 
THAT  ORGANIZATION. 


WHAT  THE  "CHECK-OFF"  MEANS 

**  By  that  (the  check-off)  is  meant  this  :  When  a  mine  is 
working  under  union  conditions  and  under  a  contract  with  the 
union,  the  mine  management  is  required  by  the  union  rules 
and  by  the  contract  to  charge  against  and  hold  out  of  the 
wages  of  every  employe  all  dues,  fines,  assessments  and  initi- 
ation fees  levied  against  the  union  members  by  the  union, 
either  local  or  national.  These  charges  frequently  run  high 
and  dissatisfy  the  laborers. 

"But,  no  matter  what  their  dissatisfaction,  the  deductions 
must  be  made  just  the  same;  and  this,  by  the  way,  is  the 
principal  object  in  unionizing  the  mines. 

"  And  these  assessments  must  be  submitted  to  by  every 
man  working  in  a  unionized  mine,  whether  he  affiliates  with 
the  union  or  not. 

**  AND  THIS,  WE  ARE  ADVISED,  IS  THE  ONLY 
LABOR  UNION  IN  EXISTENCE  THAT  EXACTS  THE 
CHECK-OFF. 

"  The  following  is  a  clause  in  the  proposed  scale  demanded 
of  the  United  Mine  Workers  : 

*'  It  shall  be  a  condition  of  employment  that  all  men 
working  in  and  around  the  mines  shall  be  members  of  the 
U.  M.  W.  of  A.,  and  all  companies  to  this  agreement 
shall  collect  from  their  employes  2  per  cent,  of  the  gross 
earnings  of  all  day  men  and  3  per  cent,  of  the  gross 
earnings  of  all  miners,  which  shall  have  preference  over 
all  other  collections,  and  turn  over  to  the  authorized 
agents  all  such  moneys  after  being  notified  by  the  miners' 
organization. 

**  We  feel  that  an  unbiased  reading  of  the  record  in  this 
case  will  disclose  that  labor  conditions  were  most  satisfactory 
in  the  mining  regions  of  Colorado  until  trouble  was  fomented 
by  the  officers,  agents  and  employes  of  the  United  Mine 
Workers  of  America. 

35 


"Hie  only  recommendation  we  have  to  suggest  is  that  the 
officers  of  the  law  be  encouraged  to  faithfully  and  rigorously 
execute  the  laws  now  on  the  statute  books,  as  well  as  those 
molded  into  our  common  law,  as  this,  in  our  judgment,  will 
be  found  more  effective  than  the  cultivation  of  a  maudlin 
sympathy  for  those  who  stand  in  open  rebellion  against  the 
constituted  authorities  of  a  sovereign  State." 


36 


THE  STRUGGLE  IN  COLORADO 
FOR  INDUSTRIAL  FREEDOM 

BULLETIN  No.   6  JULY  15,    1914 

NEARLY   10,000   MEN   NOW   AT  WORK 
IN  COLORADO  COAL  MINES 

The  coal  mine  managers  of  Colorado  issue  this 
statement  in  order  that  the  public  of  the  United 
States  may  know  the  exact  state  of  affairs  in  Colo- 
rado today  : 

Out  of  a  total  of  141  coal  mines  which  were  in  operation 
in  August,  1913 — the  month  before  the  strike — 132  are  now 
in  commission. 

Last  August  12,059  men  were  employed;  A  DAILY 
AVERAGE  OF  9892  MEN  WERE  AT  WORK  IN  APRIL, 
1914. 

The  coal  mined  amounted  to  549,953  tons  in  May  this 
year  as  against  859,047  tons  in  the  month  before  the  strike. 
The  State  Coal  Mine  Inspector's  reports  for  the  first  five 
months  of  this  calendar  year  show  a  production  of  3,066,174 
tons  in  the  five  months.  This  is  69.6  per  cent,  of  the  total 
production  of  4,403,913  in  the  corresponding  period  of  1913, 
when  business  was  more  normal  and  no  strike  had  occurred. 

Production  of  coal  for  June  shows  a  further  increase.  All 
the  coal  is  now  being  mined  that  the  market  will  absorb. 

In  September,  1913 — the  strike  was  called  September  23d 
— 12,346  men  were  employed.  The  number  that  went  on 
strike,  including  the  men  who  on  account  of  their  families  or 
otherwise  left  the  State  to  avoid  trouble,  was  4650,  or  only  38 
per  cent,  of  the  total.  A  considerable  percentage  of  even  these 
men  have  returned  to  work. 

*    *    *    » 

This  strike  was  not  the  work  either  of  the  managers  of 
the  mines  or  of  any  large  portion  of  the  miners,  less  than  10 
per  cent,  of  whom  were  members  of  the  United  Mine  Work- 
ers of  America.  It  was  planned  outside  of  the  State  of  Colo- 
rado, led  by  outsiders,  and  financed  from  outside. 

It  was  designed  to  shut  out  from  employment  all  but 
miners  who  were  members  of  a  particular  union  and  compel 
the  mine  owners  to  collect  from  the  men's  wages  dues,  assess- 
ments, benefits  and  fines,  and  turn  them  into  the  treasury  of 
the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America. 

37 


The  strike  was  not  called  in  response  to  any  demand  for  it 
by  Colorado  miners.  A  secret  ballot  taken  at  a  number  of  the 
mines  on  September  21,  1913,  two  days  before  the  strike  was 
called,  disclosed  the  fact  that  from  90  to  99  per  cent,  were 
satisfied  with  conditions  and  opposed  to  the  strike. 

The  so-called  joint  convention  of  September  15th,  which 
called  the  strike,  was  not  representative  of  the  Colorado  coal 
miners.  The  mine  managers  offered  to  submit  to  Governor 
Ammons,  or  to  any  arbitration  board  named  by  him,  every 
demand  made,  except  that  of  recognition  of  the  union,  but 
they  would  not  treat  in  any  way,  directly  or  indirectly,  with 
the  organization   known   as   the    United    Mine  Workers  of 

America. 

*  *    *    * 

This  strike — if  strike  it  can  be  called — has  developed  two 
armed  insurrections  on  the  part  of  the  strikers,  the  first  against 
the  county  authorities  and  the  mines,  which  resulted  in  calling 
out  the  militia ;  the  second,  against  the  militia  and  the  State  of 
Colorado,  which  involved  the  calling  in  of  the  United  States 
army. 

The  mines  have  been  in  operation  steadily  since  the  strike 
was  imposed,  the  output  never  dropping  below  50  per  cent,  of 
normal,  even  in  October,  1913,  and  increasing  from  that  time. 
A  large  proportion  of  the  men  still  on  strike  are  held  in  tent 
colonies  through  intimidation,  and  because  the  leaders  of  the 
strike  know  that  if  these  men  are  removed  from  their  influence 
and  restraint,  and  allowed  to  follow  their  inclinations  and 
desires,  they  will  quickly  return  to  the  mines. 

*  *    *    * 

ALL  THAT  THE  MINE  MANAGERS  ASK  IS  THAT 
PROTECTION  BE  ACCORDED  THEIR  EMPLOYES  IN 
THE  LEGITIMATE  PURSUIT  OF  WORKING  FOR 
THEIR  LIVING,  under  an  eight-hour  law  and  at  wages  than 
which  no  higher  are  paid  for  similar  labor  in  any  part  of  the 
United  States. 

With  protection  assured,  not  merely  for  the  moment,  but 
for  the  future,  the  mines  of  Colorado  will  experience  no 
difficulty  in  obtaining  competent  and  willing  workmen  suffi- 
cient in  number  to  produce  all  the  coal  the  market  demands. 


38 


THE  STRUGGLE  IN  COLORADO 
FOR  INDUSTRIAL  FREEDOM 

BULLETIN  No.   7  JULY  22,   1914 


LEADING  COLORADO  MEN  APPEAL 
TO  THE  SECRETARY  OF  LABOR 

The  Bishop  of  Colorado,  the  President  of  Col- 
orado College,  and  other  leaders  of  Colorado  life, 
have  addressed  an  open  letter  to  Secretary  of 
Labor  Wilson,  urging  him  to  use  his  influence 
with  the  labor  leaders  to  have  the  Colorado  coal 
strike  called  ofi^. 

The  grounds  on  which  these  gentlemen  made 
this  plea  are : 

1.  That  so  small  was  the  number  of  miners  belonging 
to  the  union  that  there  never  was  any  general  strike. 

2.  That  there  have  been  so  many  acts  of  unprovoked 
violence  for  which  the  leaders  of  the  strike  have  not 
attempted  to  disclaim  responsibility. 

3.  That  those  in  charge  of  the  strike  have  displayed 
bad  faith. 

4.  That  the  leaders  of  the  strike  have  practically 
assumed  an  attitude  of  rebellion  toward  the  State  of 
Colorado,  having  openly  called  men  to  arms. 

5.  That  the  strike  is  lost,  and  it  being  a  losing  cause 
it  is  not  fair  to  union  men  in  other  parts  of  the  country 
that  they  should  be  paying  out  their  hard-earned  money 
to  support  in  "ridiculous  idleness  '*  the  little  camps  of 
union  men  which  are  still  maintaining  the  nominal  strike. 

The  open  letter  concludes :  "  Let  the  agitators 
from  other  States  be  withdrawn,  as  the  mine 
guards  have  been  sent  away,  .  .  .  and  much 
greater  credit  will  be  done  the  union  than  is 
possible  by  continued  agitation." 

The  letter  in  full  is  reprinted  on  the  following 
pages. 


39 


THE  LETTER 
"To  the  Hon.  William  D.  Wilson, 

"Secretary  of  Labor,  Washington,  D.  C. 

"  Mr.  Secretary — By  virtue  of  your  present  office,  charged  with  the 
interests  of  the  laboring  man,  and  further  by  reason  of  the  responsible 
position  that  you  so  long  held  in  the  service  of  organized  labor,  you 
are  the  man  that  above  all  others  ought  to  be  appealed  to  in  the  present 
condition  of  affairs  in  Colorado. 

''As  citizens  of  that  State,  voicing,  we  believe,  the  sentiments  of  a 
large  majority  of  our  fellow  citizens,  we  appeal  to  you  to  put  forth 
all  of  the  great  influence  that  is  centered  in  you,  to  cause  the  strike  in 
the  Colorado  coal  fields  to  be  called  off. 

"In  making  a  request  that  affects  so  many  men,  reasons  should  be 
presented.  We  submit  in  the  first  place  that  THE  SUCCESS  OF  THE 
STRIKE  WAS  VERY  DOUBTFUL  FROM  THE  BEGINNING. 

"  Less  than  one-quarter  of  the  miners  belonged  to  the  union. 

"Those  who  did  not  were  so  far  contented  with  conditions  that 
they  could  not  be  expected  to  join  in  the  strike  ;  at  least,  the  result 
proves  that  to  be  the  case. 

THERE  WAS  NO  GENERAL  STRIKE 

"  In  reality  there  was  no  general  strike,  because  many  men,  in  the 
neighborhood  of  10,000,  have  been  regularly  employed  all  through 
the  times  of  disturbance,  and  the  State  has  been  continuously  supplied 
with  near  its  normal  quantity  of  coal. 

"It  should  be  called  off  because  of  the  many  acts  of  violence  that 
have  accompanied  it. 

"You  yourself  have  doubtless  observed  that  nothing  more  quickly 
dissipates  the  sympathy  of  the  public  than  unprovoked  violence. 

"An  imperfect  account  shows  about  76  violent  deaths,  most  of  them 
unprovoked  murders,  in  connection  with  this  strike. 

"  To  these  are  to  be  added  countless  cases  of  assault  and  of  wanton 
destruction  of  property.  In  other  strikes,  the  leaders  have  been  able, 
more  or  less  successfully,  to  disclaim  the  responsibility  of  themselves 
and  of  the  union  for  the  case  of  violence. 

"  Here  there  appears  to  be  no  thought  that  such  deeds  are  even  matters 
for  apology. 

"Such  an  attitude  reflects  upon  the  union,  and  any  true  friend  of 

the  workingman  should  deplore  violence  as  standing  in  the  way  of  an 
honorable  settlement. 

STRIKE   IS  LOST 

"A  third  reason  why  the  strike  should  be  called  off  is  the  bad  faith 
of  those  in  charge  of  it. 

"When  it  became  necessary  to  call  out  the  troops  it  was  demanded 
that  both  strikers  and  mine  guards  should  be  disarmed.  The  guards 
did  so  in  good  faith  and  practically  all  of  them  left  the  country. 

"  A  like  good  faith  does  not  appear  to  have  been  shown  by  the 
strikers.  They  gave  up  a  comparatively  few  worthless  arms,  but  hid 
the  good  ones. 

"  Then  when  almost  all  of  the  State  troops  had  been  withdrawn,  they 
brought  their  rifles  out  of  the  hiding  places.  And  on  more  than  one 
occasion  they  showed  their  utter  want  of  ordinary  morality  by  dis- 
playing a  white  flag  and  then  attacking  the  men  who  recognized  and 
trusted  this  world-wide  symbol  of  armistice. 

"  MEN  WHO  ACT  IN  BAD  FAITH  NOT  ONLY  FAIL  AS  INDIVID- 
UALS TO  HOLD  THE  CONFIDENCE  OF  THEIR  FELLOW  CITI- 


40 


ZENS,  BUT  THEY  DESTROY  RESPECT  FOR  THE  ORGANIZATION 
WITH  WHICH  THEY  ARE  CONNECTED,  AND  IN  WHOSE 
NAME  THEY  ARE  ACTING.  This  is  the  case  with  the  non-combat- 
ing population  of  Colorado,  who  are  now  bitterly  opposed  to  these 
methods. 

"  A  further  reason  why  the  strike  should  be  called  off  is  the  attitude 
its  leaders  have  assumed  toward  the  State. 

"  Those  who  openly  call  men  to  arms  against  the  State  are  clearly 
liable  to  the  penalties  of  treason. 

"  What  they  did  yesterday  in  Colorado,  they  are  ready  to  do  agrainst 
Illinois  tomorrow,  and  against  the  United  States  the  day  after. 

*'  As  a  public  officer,  you  can  in  no  way  better  serve  your  country, 
the  administration  of  which  you  are  a  part,  and  the  organization  with 
which  for  so  many  years  you  were  identified,  than  by  using  your  great 
influence  for  the  calling  off  of  this  strike. 

BAD  FAITH  OF  STRIKERS 

"  Besides  all  these  cogent  reasons,  Mr.  Secretary,  IT  OUGHT  TO 
BE  CALLED  OFF  BECAUSE  IT  IS  LOST. 

"  It  is  not  fair  to  the  union  men  who  are  working,  to  keep  them 
supporting  the  strikers,  when  there  is  not  a  ghost  of  a  chance  for  success. 

"The  men  in  the  Boulder  County  field  have  been  on  strike  for  four 
years,  and  have  cost  the  union  treasury  two  million  dollars,  and  there 
is  not  the  slightest  prospect  of  a  settlement. 

THE  MINES  ARE  RUNNING  AND  ARE  SENDING  OUT  FULL 
PRODUCT,  WHILE  LITTLE  CAMPS  OF  UNION  MEN  SIT  IN  RIDIC- 
ULOUS   IDLENESS. 

*'  Let  the  agitators,  brought  from  other  States,  be  withdrawn,  as  the 
mine  guards  have  been  sent  away,  and  let  the  miners  be  allowed  to 
resume  work,  and  much  greater  credit  will  be  done  the  union  than  is 
possible  by  continued  agitation.     Very  sincerely, 


H,  MARTYN  HART, 

Dean  of  St.  John's  Cathedral. 

H.  A.  HOWE, 

Dean  of  the  College  of  Liberal  Arts,  University 
of  Denver. 

CHARLES  SANFORD  OLMSTED, 
Bishop  of  Colorado. 

WILLIAM  F.  SLOCUM, 

President  of  Colorado  College. 

CHARLES  G.  WILLIAMS, 

Pastor  Capitol  Heights  Presbyterian  Church, 

ROBERT  M.  DONALDSON, 

Acting  President,  Westminister  College. 

HARRY  CARSON  BIDDLE, 
Attorney  at  Law,  Denver.'* 


41 


THE  STRUGGLE  IN  COLORADO 
FOR  INDUSTRIAL  FREEDOM 

BULLETIN  No.   8  JULY  25,    1914 


NO   ''MASSACRE'^   OF  WOMEN   AND 
CHILDREN  IN  COLORADO  STRIKE 

Much  is  contained  in  current  magazines  concern- 
ing the  alleged  killing  of  women  and  children 
during  the  Colorado  coal  strike.  If  through  insti- 
gation or  connivance  the  coal  mine  managers  of 
Colorado  had  permitted  anything  of  this  kind  to 
be  done  on  their  behalf,  the  situation  would  be 
indeed  grievous. 

The  principal  episode  in  which  such  tragedies 
are  alleged  to  have  occurred  was  the  so-called 
Battle  of  Ludlow,  on  April  20th. 

To  state  the  truth  on  this  and  other  subjects, 
the  Law  and  Order  League,  an  organization 
largely  composed  of  women,  has  caused  a  carefully 
prepared  statement  to  be  presented  to  President 
Woodrow  Wilson. 

The  statement  was  signed  by  about  twelve 
hundred  representative  Colorado  citizens,  and 
submitted  by  Mrs.  Helen  L.  Grenfell,  of  Denver, 
Vice-President  of  the  League.  Mrs.  Grenfell  has 
three  times  been  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion, and  has  been  for  the  past  five  years  Peniten- 
tiary Commissioner  of  Colorado. 

In  connection  with  occurrences  at  the  Battle 
of  Ludlow,  and  especially  concerning  the  report 
that  women  and  children  were  ruthlessly  killed, 
Mrs.  Grenfell's  statement  to  the  President  says: 

"  In  connection  with  the  strike,  numerous  acts  of  violence 
and  loss  of  life  and  property  occurred  before  October  28,  1913, 
when  the  State  troops  were  ordered  to  the  field. 

"  During  the  time  this  body  of  troops,  small  in  number, 
remained  in  the  field,   law  and  order  were  maintained,  only 

42 


two  men  losing  their  lives,  one  by  accident,  the  other  while 
resisting  arrest. 

"  The  withdrawal  on  April  18th  of  all  of  the  troops  from 
the  large  area  covered  by  the  strike,  save  the  small  body 
stationed  at  Ludlow,  and  who  were  left  behind  because  of  the 
urgent  request  of  residents  of  the  locality,  was  immediately 
followed  by  the  battle  of  April  20th,  which,  according  to  the 
account  of  witnesses,  was  precipitated  by  the  strikers  occupy- 
ing the  tent  colony  just  after  a  visit  by  a  military  detail  for  the 
purpose  of  demanding  the  release  of  a  man  reported  as  being 
unlawfully  detained  by  the  strikers. 

GREEKS  LED  IN  TROUBLE 

"  The  preponderance  of  testimony  declares  that  the  Greek 

contingent  of  the  strikers'  colony  intrenched  in  a  railroad  cut, 

where  the  strikers  had  previously  hidden  300  guns,  began  the 

attack. 

*    *    ^t    * 

"During  the  conflict  following,  a  fire  was  accidentally 
started  either  by  an  overturned  stove  or  an  explosion,  and 
two  women  and  eleven  children  were  afterward  found  suffo- 
cated in  a  covered  pit  dug  under  a  tent. 

"  Not  one  of  them  was  hit  by  a  bullet,  as  was  shown  by 
the  report  of  the  coroner's  jury, 

"  The  presence  of  women  and  children  in  such  pits  was 
not  suspected  by  the  soldiers,  who  had  seen  them  running  in 
large  numbers  to  an  arroyo  before  the  first  shots  were  fired. 
'  Evidence  also  shows  that  eight  hours  after  the  beginning 
of  the  fight,  when  screams  were  heard  issuing  from  the  tents, 
certain  of  the  troops,  at  the  risk  of  their  own  lives,  under 
constant  fire  from  the  Greek  strikers,  rushed  to  the  rescue 
and  removed  the  women  to  a  place  of  safety,  and  in  this 
removal  first  discovered  the  existence  of  the  subterranean  pits. 

'♦BOTH  SIDES  AGREE  THAT  NO  WOMAN  WAS 
STRUCK  BY  A  BULLET  FROM  EITHER  SIDE. 

"No  machine  gun  was  at  any  time  directed  against  the 
colony. 

»    *    *    * 

"A  boy  of  twelve  crossing  the  field  was  shot  in  the  fore- 
head while  facing  the  strikers. 

*  The  elaborate  rifle  pits  occupied  by  the  strikers  showed 
that  they  had  made  deliberate  preparation  for  battle,  and 
were  so  located  that  the  shots  from  them  could  not  be  answered 
by  the  troops  without  firing  into  the  tent  colony  which  the 
pits  surrounded. 


43 


ATTACK  NOT  PLANNED  BY 
THE  TROOPS 

"  That  the  attack  was  not  planned  by  the  troops  is  con- 
clusively shown  by  the  fact  that  the  soldiers  were  scattered 
about  the  district,  employed  in  their  usual  morning  work,  and 
that  the  commanding  positions  were  occupied  by  the  strikers 
in  the  beginning  of  the  fray. 

*'The  entire  force  of  troops,  in  the  early  part  of  the  day, 
was  but  thirty-eight  men  as  against  at  least  500  armed  strikers. 

"Later  in  the  day  other  troops  and  individuals  entered 
into  the  fight,  and  it  is  charged  that  there  were  instances  of 
acts  of  violence  on  the  part  of  those  opposing  the  strikers,  the 
most  serious  being  the  unsoldierlike  offense  of  striking  the 
prisoner,  Tikas,  by  an  officer  of  the  State  troops. 

*'The  discovery  that  all  wounded  or  dying  men,  whether 
soldiers  or  civilians,  who  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  strikers 
had  been  tortured  and  unspeakably  mutilated  may  explain, 
even  if  it  does  not  excuse,  the  wrong  doing  charged." 


44 


THE  STRUGGLE  IN  COLORADO 
FOR  INDUSTRIAL  FREEDOM 

BULLETIN  No.   9  JULY  30,    1914 

COAL   MINERS   EARN    MORE    IN 

COLORADO  THAN  IN  ANY  OTHER 

PART  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

Colorado's  coal  mining  wage  scale  is — and  has 
been  for  two  years — about  20  per  cent,  higher 
than  the  scale  in  districts  with  which  Colorado 
coal  competes. 

Colorado  coal  miners  are  and  have  been  for 
several  years  earning  better  wages  than  miners  in 
any  other  part  of  the  United  States,  not  excepting 
Wyoming,  whose  scale  is  nominally,  though  not 
in  results  to  the  men,  higher  than  that  in  Colorado. 

A  voluntary  increase  of  about  10  per  cent,  in 
wages  was  made  by  the  coal  mining  companies 
in  April,  1912,  without  even  the  suggestion  of  a 
demand  on  the  part  of  the  miners. 

*   *  »   « 

SPECIMEN  ANNUAL  WAGES 

THE  AVERAGE  DAILY  EARNINGS  OF  A  COLO- 
RADO COAL  MINER  ARE  $4.00  A  DAY. 

Suggestion  is  sometimes  made  that  such  a  figure  applies 
only  when  the  man  works — that  he  doesn't  get  a  chance  to 
work  enough  days  to  earn  good  annual  wages,  and  that  that  is 
the  real  test. 

Congressman  Kindel,  of  Colorado,  speaking  in  the  House 
of  Representatives  on  June  13th,  said  : 

*'  The  uncontroverted  testimony  taken  by  the  investigating 
committee  of  this  House  discloses  the  average  daily  earnings 
at  five  representative  mines  for  the  months  immediately 
preceding  and  following  the  strike  to  be  $4.41,  $4.27,  $4.98, 
$4.67,  and  $4.90  per  man." 


45 


WHAT  THE  COLORADO  FUEL  AND  IRON 
COMPANY  PAID 

The  Colorado  Fuel  and  Iron  Company,  the  largest  coal 
producing  company,  pays  out  in  wages  to  all  employes  about 
$10,000,000  every  year.  Some  6000,  out  of  a  total  of  12,000 
employes,  work  in  and  around  coal  mines. 

For  the  fiscal  year  just  prior  to  the  strike  the  Colorado 
Fuel  and  Iron  Company  operated  21  mines.  The  average 
number  of  men  employed  in  digging  coal  was  2340. 

At  the  Pictou  mine,  four  brothers,  Italians,  who  worked 
the  entire  year,  earned  an  average  of  $1833  each. 

AT  13  OF  THE  MINES  WHERE  1384  MINERS  (59 
PER  CENT.  OF  ALL  THE  MINERS)  WORKED,  THE 
YEAR'S  EARNINGS  PER  MAN  RANGED  FROM  $980.97 
TO  $1259.14.  The  working  time  at  these  mines  varied  from 
213  to  306  days,  depending  on  local  conditions. 

At  five  of  the  mines  675  miners  earned  from  $805.93  to 
$943.31,  working  time  ranging  from  183  to  253  days. 

Two  of  the  remaining  three  mines  were  closed  down  for 
a  continuous  period  of  almost  half  of  the  year  and  worked 
but  159  and  151  days  respectively;  the  average  earnings  per 
man  for  the  half  year  being  $599.66  at  Lester  and  $596.39  at 
Walsen. 

The  one  remaining  mine  worked  168  days  out  of  the 
year,  the  miners  earning  an  average  of  $4.54  per  day,  or 
$764.08  for  the  year. 

Arbitrary  deductions  from  these  earnings  are  50  cents  per 
month  for  sharpening  tools,  $1  per  month  for  doctor'^  services, 
covering  all  necessary  attention  to  the  employe  and  his  family, 
and  whatever  amount  may  be  paid  for  powder,  the  total  for 
powder  amounting  to  from  8  cents  to  20  cents  per  day,  and 
averaging  less  than  $4  per  month  per  man. 

The  correctness  of  these  figures  was  proven  in  an  exam- 
ination  made  by  certified  public  accountants  chosen  by  the 
Governor  and  a  committee  of  newspaper  men. 


WHY  MINERS  OPPOSED  A  STRIKE 

In  addition  to  these  earnings,  paid  semi-monthly,  and  the 
right  to  trade  where  they  please,  the  miners  have  an  eight-hour 
day  underground  and  a  checkweighman  where  they  want  it. 

It  is  not  hard,  therefore,  to  understand  that  they  were  sat- 
isfied with  their  conditions  and  opposed  to  a  strike. 

Neither  is  it  hard  to  see  why  no  more  than  50  per  cent. 
of  the  men  at  any  time  quit  work,  nor  difficult  to  understand 

46 


why  more  than  70  per  cent,  of  the  normal  quota  of  men 
should  be  at  work  now,  in  spite  of  all  the  agitation  and  effort 
to  foment  strife. 

Union  sympathizers  outside  the  State  are    supporting    in 
idleness  some  1500  or  2000  men  to  keep  up  a  semblance  of  a 

strike. 

*    *    *    * 

The   mines   are   meanwhile  producing  all    the  coal  the 
market  ivill  absorb. 


47 


THE  STRUGGLE  IN  COLORADO 
FOR  INDUSTRIAL  FREEDOM 

BULLETIN  No.   18  AUGUST  3,    1914 


NOT  UNION  LABOR— BUT 
ORGANIZED  TYRANNY, 
THE  ISSUE  IN  COLORADO 

The  fight  of  the  Colorado  coal  mine  managers  is 
not  against  union  labor. 

The  principle  of  collective  bargaining  is  not 
at  stake. 

The  struggle  in  Colorado  is  against  the  domi- 
nation of  a  particular  organization — the  United 
Mine  Workers  of  America. 

Opposition  to  the  intrusion  of  this  organization  is 
due  tothefact  that  but  a  small  minority  of  the  miners 
of  Colorado  are  members  of  it,  that  its  methods  are 
intolerable,  and  that  its  leaders  have  condoned,  if 
not  instigated,  unnumbered  acts  designed  to  plun- 
der property  and  to  maim  and  kill  loyal  employes. 


POSITION  OF  THE  MANAGERS 

A  peculiar  feature  of  the  United  Mine  Workers  of  Amer- 
ica, one  which  distinguishes  it  from  all  other  unions,  is  that  in 
all  mines  where  its  regime  is  "  recognized  "  the  operator  must 
agree  (a)  that  members  of  that  union  must  receive  first  choice 
of  all  jobs,  and  (h)  that  before  the  men  receive  their  wages, 
deduction  must  be  made  of  whatever  union  dues  or  fines  have 
been  assessed,  and  the  amount  paid  to  that  union.  This  is 
called  the  "  check-off." 

The  managers  felt  that  submission  to  any  such  plan  as  that 
was  unjustifiable  in  itself,  and  was  an  imposition  upon  their 
employes,  who  had  a  right  to  receive  the  whole  of  their  wages 
without  interference  by  anyone.  The  earnings  of  the  miners 
in  the  Colorado  mines  were  the  highest  paid  any  coal  miners 
in  the  United  States. 


4S 


WHAT  RECOGNITION  OF  THIS 
UNION  IMPLIES 

That  the  obnoxious  '*  check-off  "  system  of  deducting  the 
union  wages  and  fines  before  the  men  receive  their  pay  is 
fundamental  with  the  United  Mine  Workers  is  indicated  in 
the  following  testimony  of  John  Mitchell  before  the  United 
States  Commission  on  Industrial  Relations,  April  6,  1914 
(Page  70) : 

"  Mr.  Weinstock :  You  explained  that  under  exist- 
ing agreements  the  employers  deduct  from  the  wages 
the  union  dues  ? 

"Mr.  Mitchell:  Yes. 

*♦  Mr.  Weinstock  :  Does  that  mean  that  all  mines 
employing  union  men  are  closed  shops  ? 

*'Mr.  Mitchell:  Yes;  that  is,  they  are  union  shops. 

"Mr.  Weinstock:  Non-union  men  are  not  em- 
ployed there  ? 

*'MR.  MITCHELL:  ANY  MAN  APPLYING 
FOR  EMPLOYMENT  MAY  BE  GIVEN  WORK 
WITHOUT  A  PROTEST,  BUT  HE  AFTER- 
WARD AUTOMATICALLY  COMES  INTO  THE 
UNION. 

*'  Mr.  Weinstock  :     And  if  he  refuses  to  pay  his 
dues  he  cannot  be  employed  ? 
"Mr.  Mitchell:  No." 


TYRANNY  OF  THE  "CHECK-OFF" 

The  ''check-off"  means  that  all  dues,  fines,  assessments 
and  fees,  which  the  organization  sees  fit  to  levy  against  its 
members,  shall  by  the  operator  be  deducted  from  the  earnings 
of  all  workmen  and  remitted  to  the  organization  before  any 
payments  are  made  to  the  employes  by  the  mining  company. 

These  checks  frequently  run  high  and  dissatisfy  the  miners. 
No  matter  what  their  dissatisfaction,  the  deduction  must  be 
made  just  the  same.  Neither  sickness  nor  unusual  require- 
ments or  needs  of  a  miner's  family  will  permit  the  mine 
manager  to  take  care  of  the  miner's  wants  without  first  remit- 
ting to  the  organization  the  dues  and  assessments  which  may 
have  been  levied. 

The  following  is  a  clause  in  the  proposed  scale  demand  of 

the  United  Mine  Workers  : 

•'  It  shall  be  a  condition  of  employment  that  all  men 
working  in  and  around  the  mines  shall  be  members  of 
the  U.  M.  W.  of  A.,  and  all  companies  to  this  agree- 
ment shall  collect  from  their  employes  2  per  cent,  of 
the  gross  earnings  of  all  day  men  and  3  per  cent,  of  the 
gross  earnings  of  all  miners,  which  shall  have  pref- 
erence over  all  other  collections,  and  turn  over  to 
the  authorized  agents  all  such  moneys  after  being 
notified  by  the  miners'  organization." 


How  subversive  of  discipline  in  a  mine  this  "  check-off  " 
is  can  best  be  gauged  by  such  sections  as  Section  13,  Article 

49 


XV,  in  the  constitution  of  the  U.  M.  W.  of  A.  in  the  district 

adjoining  Colorado : 

"Any  member  of  the  U.  M.  W.  of  A.  found  guilty 
of  giving  evidence  against  any  members  of  one 
organization  without  first  being  called  upon  by  the 
pit  committee  or  district  board  shall,  for  the  first 
offense,  be  fined  $10.00." 

Thus,  if  a  mine  superintendent  suspects  infraction  of  rules 
for  safety,  and  should  call  up  a  miner  and  try  to  find  the  truth, 
should  a  miner  tell  him  what  he  knows  the  company  must 
withhold  $10   from  the  miner's  pay  and  turn  it  over  to  the 

organization. 

*    *    *    * 

In  this  same  constitution.  Section  8,  Article  X,  reads : 

**  Any  member  or  members  found  guilty  of  giving 
DAMAGING  EVIDENCE,  either  verbal  or  written, 
to  the  company's  representatives  in  case  of  accident, 
vvrithout  the  consent  of  the  State  mine  inspector  or 
his  deputies  or  legally  constituted  authority,  shall  be 
expelled  from  the  union  and  shall  not  become  a  mem- 
ber again  for  less  than  $100,  and  the  local  expelling 
him  shall  notify  the  district  secretary,  and  he  shall 
notify  all  locals  in  the  district." 

That  is,  the  door  is  closed  as  tightly  as  possible  on  any 
investigation,  by  the  mine  officials,  of  an  accident  that  has 
occurred.  If  the  miner  who  assists  them  goes  to  work  again, 
they  must  hold  out  his  fine  of  $100  and  turn  it  over  to  the 
U.  M.  W.  of  A. 

*  ¥r       *       * 

HOW  THE  MEN  ARE  BLED 

There   are   innumerable   excuses   for   smaller  fines.     An 

illuminating  paragraph  in  Section  1,  Article  XVI : 

"Each  member  of  the  United  Mine  Workers  of 
America  in  District  14  shall  be  assessed  1  per  cent,  on 
all  their  gross  earnings  .  .  .  for  the  purpose  of 
creating  a  defense  fund  for  the  benefit  of  the  United 
Mine  Workers  of  America  in  District  No.  14." 

The  constitution  of  District  No  15,  United  Mine  Workers 

of  America,  which  embraces  Colorado,  provides  in  Section  3, 

Article  VI : 

**  All  dues,  assessments  and  fines  shall  be  collected 
by  the  check-off  system,  or  its  equivalent." 

There  is  a  side  light  in  Section  1,  Article  X : 

*•  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  each  member  to  ask  for 
union-label  goods  in  stores  w^here  they  deal,  and  if 
said  stores  don't  handle  union-made  goods,  they  shall 
request  them  to  handle  union-made  goods  or  not  pat- 
ronize said  store." 

*  *    *    * 

THE   COMMENT  OF  A  CONGRESSMAN 
In  speaking,  on  June  13,  1914,  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives at  Washington,    Congressman   Kindel,   himself    a 
member  of  a  labor  union,  had  this  to  say  of  the  United  Mine 
Workers  of  America : 


50 


"It  has  already  been  charged  that  the  United  Mine 
Workers  of  America  is  a  criminal  conspiracy  under  the  Sher- 
man Anti-Trust  Act.  Its  officers,  and  many  of  its  leading 
members,  are  at  this  moment  under  indictment  in  the  courts 
of  several  States. 

''In  1912  the  Socialist  element  in  its  ranks  secured  control 
of  the  organization,  and  its  constitution  was  amended  so  as  to 
proclaim  that  its  members  are  entitled  to  absolutely  all  the 
profit  derived  from  the  business  in  which  they  are  engaged  to 
the  exclusion  of  the  man — the  parasite  as  he  is  termed — who 
has  invested  his  capital  in  a  presumably  legitimate  business. 

'*  But  if  these  things  were  not  so,  the  demand  for  this  so- 
called  check-off,  the  insistence  of  these  leaders  that  an  em- 
ployer shall  and  must  arbitrarily  deduct  from  the  pay  roll  of 
every  employe,  whether  such  employe  desires  it  or  not,  an 
amount  to  be  determined  by  others,  is  so  un-American  and, 
in  my  opinion,  so  unlawful  as  to  compel  all  fair-minded  men 
to  condemn  any  organization,  be  it  a  labor  union  or  other- 
yyise,  -which  insists  upon  such  a  practice  as  one  of  the  comer- 
stones  of  its  structure. 

"There  is  no  other  labor  organization  in  the  world  which 
depends  upon  this  iniquitous  practice  for  its  existence.  The 
check-off  can  be  defended  on  no  possible  theory." 


TEN  THOUSAND  LOYAL  MEN 
Ten  thousand  men  are  now  faithfully  at  work  in  the  Colo- 
rado coal  mines.     They  are  producing  all  the  coal  the  market 
will  absorb. 

To  agree  to  the  demands  of  those  still  nominally  on 
"strike"  would  mean  that  these  ten  thousand  men  would  of 
necessity  be  handed  over  bodily  to  the  mercies  of  a  labor  union 
which  they  had  never  joined  and  which  they  had  indicated  no 
disposition  to  join. 

Surrender  to  the  lawlessness  and  riot  supported  by  the 
United  Mine  Workers  of  America  would  involve  not  only 
sacrifice  of  what  the  coal  mine  managers  feel  to  be  profoundly 
right,  but  would  also  mean  betrayal  of  that  daily  increasing 
army  of  loyal  employes,  who  in  their  silent  fashion  have  mani- 
fested their  preference  to  work  in  the  "open  shop"  promised 
to  them  at  these  mines — where  any  good  workman  is  welcome. 


51 


THE  STRUGGLE  IN  COLORADO 
FOR    INDUSTRIAL    FREEDOM 

No.  11  August  7,  1914 


HOW  COLORADO  EDITORS  VIEW  THE 
COAL  STRIKE. 

After  the  strike  was  called  in  the  coal  mines  of 
southern  Colorado,  and  unusual  acts  of  violence 
were  committed,  editors  representing  25  leading 
papers  of  Colorado  met  in  Denver  to  learn  the 
facts  and  to  determine  upon  a  policy. 

These  editors  heard  what  the  different  interests 
had  to  say,  and  issued  a  manifesto  to  the  people 
of  the  State — proposing  terms  upon  which  in  their 
judgment  the  strike  should  be  settled. 

The  coal  mine  managers  accepted  the  editors' 
proposition  without  qualification.  The  leaders 
of  the  men  refused  to  do  so. 

The  report  of  the  editors'  conference  in  detail  is 
presented  below: 

Gov.  E.  M.  Ammons  told  why  he  called  out  the  troops 
and  what  he  proposes  to  do  through  their  operations. 

Ford  Cornwall,  Thomas  Dennison,  and  A.  Lamont,  three 
men  on  strike,  were  selected  by  the  strike  leaders  and  told 
why  they  struck  and  what  they  are  demanding. 

John  C.  Osgood,  president  of  one  of  the  large  companies, 
gave  the  operators'  side  of  the  controversy,  and  John  Mc 
Lennan,  president  of  District  No.  15,  United  Mine  Workers 
of  America,  told  why  that  organization  called  the  strike. 

The  six  addresses  occupied  six  hours.  Every  speaker  was 
given  unlimited   time  and   no  interruptions  allowed. 

Following  the  addresses  the  editors  went  into  executive 
session  and  adopted  the  following  resolutions  with  three  dis- 
senting votes 


To  the  people  and  the  press  of  Colorado,  to  the  coal-mine  owners, 
And  to  the  coal  miners  of  this  State. 
For  the  past  two  months  a  strike  has  existed  in  the  coal-mining 
industry  of  Colorado.    As  a  direct  result  of  this  strike  human  lives 

52 


have  been  sacrificed,  many  thousands  of  laboring  men  thrown  out 
of  employment,  property  destroyed,  business  conditions  have  be- 
come depressed,  the  price  of  coal  has  been  advanced,  the  reputa- 
tion and  credit  of  the  State  at  home  and  abroad  is  being  impaired, 
and  the  public  at  large  is  being  made  to  suffer  beyond  accurate 
calculation.  The  unfortunate  conditions  are  not  in  harmony  with 
the  peace,  prosperity,  and  general  welfare  that  is  supposed  to  be 
guaranteed  to  all  men  and  to  all  institutions  alike  under  the  con- 
stitution of  this  State  and  of  the  United  States. 

For  the  purpose,  therefore,  of  trying  to  arrive  at  a  method  of 
assisting  in  terminating  this  industrial  conflict  between  the  miners 
and  the  mine  owners  in  a  manner  which  will  be  in  accordance 
with  the  laws  of  Colorado  enacted  to  regulate  the  coal  mining 
industry,  the  newspapers  of  Colorado  represented,  acting  on  behalf 
of  the  general  public  have  met  in  Denver,  and  after  hearing  the 
arguments  and  statements  of  representatives  of  the  coal  mine 
owners,  of  the  coal  miners,  and  of  the  United  Mine  Workers  of 
America,  and  a  statement  from  the  governor  of  this  State,  and 
having  given  extensive  consideration  to  each  and  every  one  of. 
these  statements,  and  having  weighed  their  effect  fully  and  carefully, 
the  newspapers  represented  have  agreed  upon  a  general  and  a 
united  policy  of  action,  to  be  recommended  to  the  press  of  Colo- 
rado, with  reference  to  the  termination  of  this  strike,  based  «po» 
the  authority  of  the  existing  State  laws. 

WHAT  THE  MINERS  DEMANDED. 

Before  stating  our  conclusions,  we  desire  first  to  state  the  cause 
of  the  strike,  viz:  the  demands  made  by  the  miners  upon  the  coal 
mine  owners  of  Colorado,  which  are  as  follows: 

The   demands  of  the   miners: 

First.    We  demand  recognition  of  the  union. 

Second.  We  demand  a  lo  per  cent,  advance  in  wages  on  the 
tonnage  rates  and  the  following  day-wage  scale,  which  is  practic- 
ally in  accord  with  the  Wyoming  day-wage  scale. 

Third.  We  demand  an  eight-hour  workday  for  all  classes  of 
labor  in  or  around  the  coal  mines  and  at  coke  ovens. 

Fourth.  We  demand  pay  for  all  narrow  work  and  dead  work, 
which  includes  brushing,  timbering,  removing  falls,  handling  im- 
purities, etc. 

Fifth.  We  demand  check  weighmen  at  all  mines,  to  be  elected  by 
the  miners  without  any  interference  by  company  officials  in  said 
election. 

Sixth.  We  demand  the  right  to  trade  in  any  store  we  please  and 
the  right  to  choose  our  own  boarding  place  and  our  own  doctor. 

Seventh.  We  demand  the  enforcement  of  the  Colorado  mining 
laws  and  the  abolition  of  the  notorious  and  criminal  guard  system 
which  has  prevailed  in  the  mining  camps  of  Colorado  for  many 
years. 

THE  EDITORS'  CONCLUSIONS. 

First  demand.     Recognition  of  the  union. 

With  reference  to  the  first  demand  we  submit  the  following  facts 
and  conclusions: 


53 


The  question  of  the  official  recognition  of  any  labor  organization 
or  labor  union  by  any  employer  or  employers  of  labor  is  a  question 
not  reached  or  controlled  by  law,  but  must  be  mutually  desired  by 
both  employer  and  employee  to  become  a  recognized  reality. 

In  other  words,  if  employers  do  not  desire  to  recognize  a  labor 
union  as  an  organization  in  the  employment  of  members  of  that 
union,  there  is  no  law  upon  the  statute  books  which  can  or  will 
compel  them  to  do  so. 

WE  HAVE  COME  TO  THE  CONCLUSION,  THEREFORE, 
THAT  THE  FIRST  DEMAND  MADE  BY  THE  MINERS 
IS  NOT  ONE  WHICH  CAN  BE  ARBITRATED  BY  ANY 
BODY  OF  MEDIATORS,  FOR  THE  REASON  THAT  AS 
STATED  ABOVE,  IT  MUST  BE  A  MATTER  MUTUALLY 
DESIRED  AND  AGREED  TO  BY  EMPLOYER  AND  EM- 
PLOYEE. 

However,  so  long  as  individual  workmen  in  the  employ  of 
coal-mine  owners  desire  to  belong  to  a  union  they  have  a  perfect 
right  to  do  so.  This  right  is  guaranteed  them  by  the  laws  of  the 
State,  and  therefore  this  first  demand  for  official  recognition  of 
the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America,  as  such,  should  not  be 
further  pressed  by  the  members  of  that  organization  in  accepting  a 
declaration  on  which  this  strike  should  now  be  terminated. 

However,   the   right  of  the   miners  to  belong  to   a  union  under 
the  authority  of   the  State  of  Colorado  should  be   recognized   and 
upheld  and  should  not  be  objected  to  by  any  employer  of  labor. 
«  »  *  « 

ADEQUATE  WAGES  ALREADY  PAID. 

Second  demand.     A  wage  increase  of  lo  per  cent. 

Fourth  demand.     Additional  pay  for  additional  and  varied  work. 

In  our  judgment  these  two  demands  should  be  merged  into  a  single 
demand,  especially  as  both  the  second  and  fourth  demands  contem- 
plate a  higher  net  income  in  wages  for  the  miners  and  our  con- 
clusion is,  therefore,  that  these  demands  should  be  consolidated  and 
considered  under  one  general  proposition. 

With  reference  to  this  general  wage  demand,  therefore,  our 
conclusions   are    as    follows: 

The  amount  of  money  a  miner  can  earn  depends  on  the  amount 
of  work  he  can  or  is  willing  to  perform.  In  a  published  advertise- 
ment over  the  name  of  the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America  which 
recently  appeared  in  the  Denver  Newspapers,  a  statement  was  made 
to  the  effect  that  all  the  miners  wanted  was  "a  living  wage  and 
the  enforcement  of  the  laws  affecting  the  coal-mining  industry." 

The  question  very  properly  arises,  therefore,  as  to  what  should 
be  considered  a  living  wage. 

The  average  wage  earned  by  the  individual  coal  miners  working 
in  all  parts  of  Colorado,  as  published  in  the  advertisements  of  the 
coal-mine  owners,  we  find  to  be  approximately  $4  per  day,  prac- 
tically $105  per  month,  and  working  eight  hours  a  day  or  less  if 
they  choose. 

This  is  said  to  include  the  wages  earned  by  good  bad,  and 
indifferent  miners.  The  wages  of  some  miners  is  said  to  run  as 
low  as  $2.25  per  day,  while  other  miners  individually  earn  over 
$7  per  day. 

54 


A  comparison  of  the  average  coal  miner's  wage  for  the  entire 
State  of  $4  per  day,  with  the  wages  earned  by  other  classes  of 
laboring  men  in  Colorado  who  are  equally  skilled  with  a  coal 
miner,  shows  that  if  the  average  wages  of  all  coal  miners  in 
Colorado  is  $105  per  month,  they  are  now  being  paid,  in  our  belief, 
what  has  been  referred  to  as  a  living  wage;  in  fact,  that  they 
are  already  being  paid  a  wage  entirely  in  keeping  with  the  wages 
paid  for  other  classes  of  labor  in  Colorado. 

Therefore,  taking  the  miners  at  their  published  word,  we  be- 
lieve that  their  original  demand  for  a  10  per  cent,  increase  over 
the  present  Colorado  scale,  and  which  as  later  modified  in  their 
advertisements  to  a  demand  for  living  wages,  has  already  been 
met  by  the  payment  of  the  existing  scale  of  wages  for  raining 
coal  in  this  State,  and  which  is  higher  in  the  net  wages  earned 
than  in  any  other  State.  Therefore,  this,  the  second  and  fourth 
demand  upon  the  part  of  the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America 
for  living  wages  is  now  being  given  the  miners  by  the  coal  mine 

owners. 

*  *      * 

Third  demand.  An  eight-hour  day  for  all  classes  of  labor  in  and 
around  the  coal  mines  and  at  coke  ovens. 

This  third  demand  is  one  which  is  guaranteed  to  miners  em- 
ployed in  underground  mines  by  the  laws  of  Colorado.  If  the 
laws  of  this  State  have  been  disregarded  in  the  employment  of 
labor  in  the  coal  mining  industry,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  governor  to 
enforce  this  law,  and  in  this  he  should  be  heartily  supported. 

Therefore,    our   conclusion   with    reference   to   the   third   demand 

on  the  part  of  the  miners  employed  in  underground  mines  is  thai 

it  should  be  gua^ranteed  to  them  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of 

this  State. 

•jt      *      * 

Fifth  demand.    Check  weighmen  at  all  times. 

This,  the  fifth  demand,  is  another  to  which  the  miners  are  clearlj 
entitled,  and  which  is  guaranteed  to  them  under  the  law.  If  this 
law  has  not  been  enforced,  or  if  the  miners  have  not  taken  advan- 
tage of  their  rights  under  it,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  governor  of 
Colorado  to  guarantee  the  enforcement  of  this  law. 

*  *      * 

Sixth  demand.     The  right  to  trade   at  any  store. 

This  sixth  demand,  also,  may  or  may  not  have  been  accorded  the 
miners  by  the  mine  owners.  It  is  a  demand,  however,  which 
should  be  guaranteed  to  them,  for  the  reason  that  the  laws  of 
Colorado  provide  that  no  coercion  should  be  practiced  by  any 
coal  mine  owner  against  any  miner  in  the  buying  of  his  household 
supplies.  Therefore,  this  sixth  demand  should  also  be  guaranteed 
to  the  miners  under  the  provision  of  the  laws  relating  thereto. 

*  *      * 

Seventh  demand.    General  enforcement  of  Colorado  mining  laws; 

abolition   of   guard  system. 

This  seventh  and  last  demand  upon  the  part  of  the  miners  is 
not  open  to  discussion,  so  far  as  that  portion  of  it  which  relates 
to  a  general  enforcement  of  the  Colorado  mining  laws  is  concerned; 

55 


for,  without  question,  the  miners  are  entitled  to  receive  the  full 
benefit  guaranteed  to  them  under  the  mining  laws  of  this  State. 

So  far  as  the  employment  of  police  or  mine  guards  is  concerned, 
this  practice  during  periods  of  peace  is  maintained  solely  as  a 
matter  of  police  protection  against  ordinary  disturbances  and  against 
possible  damages  to  property  in  times  of  petty  brawls  which  are 
of  ordinary  occurrence  in  many  mining  camps;  and  so  long  as 
these  guards  or  police  are  maintained  upon  a  company  property 
for  the  purpose  of  preserving  the  peace  and  to  protect  that  property, 
there  is  no  good  or  legal  reason  for  their  removal. 

With  the  exception  of  this  portion  of  the  last  demand  of  the 
miners,  our  conclusion  is  that  the  seventh  demand,  for  general 
enforcement  of  the  mining  laws  of  Colorado,  is  clearly  right,  and 
should  also  be  guaranteed  to  the  miners  by  the  full  power  of  the 
laws  of  this  State. 

CONDITIONS    OF    PEACE. 

Therefore,  after  mature  and  careful  consideration  of  all  the 
factors  in  connection  with  this  strike,  we  hereby  make  the  following 
declaration: 

That  the  strike  nuhich  has  prevailed  in  the  coal  mining  industry 
in  Colorado  should  he  called  off  under  the  folloiving  terms  and 
conditions,  viz: 

First.  That  the  miners  should  waive  their  first  demand,  which 
is  for  a  recognition  of  the  union,  on  the  ground  that  the  recognition 
of  any  union  must  necessarily  be  a  matter  of  mutual  agreement 
and  not  of  coercion,  and  not  being  covered  by  any  law;  and  for 
the  additional  reason  that  the  laws  of  Colorado  guarantee  to  every 
miner  the  right  to  belong  individually  to  any  labor  organization 
without  prejudice  or  discrimination  on  the  part  of  any  employer 
of  labor. 

Second.  That  the  miners  should  waive  their  second  and  fourth 
demands  for  an  increase  in  wages,  not  only  for  the  reason  that 
the  wages  now  paid  to  coal  miners  in  this  State  are  larger  than 
in  most  other  States,  and  are  as  large  as  paid  in  most  other  lines 
of  industry  in  Colorado,  but  also  for  the  reason  that  the  modified 
demands  of  the  miners,  as  published  in  the  newspapers,  asking  for 
living  wages,  are,  in  our  opinion,  already  met,  being  paid  to  them 
in  cash,  twice  a  month,  by  the  coal-mine  owners. 

Third.  That  the  miners  are  entitled  to  have  granted  their  de- 
mands, in  accordance  with  the  laws  relating  thereto,  designated 
as  follows: 

Third  demand.     For  an  eight-hour  work  day  in  all  coal  mines. 

Fifth  demand.  For  a  checkweighman  in  all  mines  where  they 
ask,  to  be  selected  from  among  the  miners  by  the  miners,  to  be 
paid  by  them,  and  without  interference  upon  the  part  of  the 
operators. 

Sixth  demand.     The  right  to  trade  at  any  store. 

Seventh  demand.  The  demand  for  the  enforcement  of  all  laws 
relating  to  the  coal-mining  industry. 

Also  that  all  competent  striking  miners  who  have  not  been  guilty 
of  violation  of  the  law  while  on  strike  should  be  taken  back  by 
the   coal-mine   owners   without    prejudice. 

56 


ALSO,  THAT  ANY  COAL-MINE  OWNER  HAS  A  LEGAL 
RIGHT  TO  EMPLOY  ANY  PERSON  OR  PERSONS  WITH- 
OUT INTERFERENCE  OR  THREATS  UPON  THE  PART 
OF  ANY  OTHER  PERSON  OR  ORGANIZATIONS,  AS 
PROVIDED  BY  LAW. 

Also,  that  we  declare  it  to  be  the  duty  of  the  governor  of  this 
State  to  compel  the  enforcement  of  the  State  mining  laws,  to  which 
we  pledge  our  earnest  support  and  co-operation;  and  that,  to 
obtain  for  the  miners  every  right  to  which  they  are  entitled  under 
the  law,  the  rigid  enforcement  of  the  State  laws  is  alone  necessary. 

NECESSARY  TO  INSURE  THE  PEACE. 

We  commend  Gov.  Ammons  for  sending  troops  into  one  disturbed 
district  of  the  State,  and  express  our  full  confidence  in  the  integrity 
of  his  purposes  respecting  the  unfortunate  industrial  strife  that 
exists  there.  However,  we  believe  the  troops  should  be  adequate 
in  number  to  become  sole  protectors  of  life  and  property  in  sections 
of  the  State  where  such  strife  exists  or  is  threatened,  and  that  the 
National  Guard  should  be  recruited  to  meet  conditions  as  they 
may  arise.  That  is  our  opinion  that  until  such  time  as  the 
National  Guard  may  safely  be  withdrawn  from  the  affected  dis- 
tricts and  law  and  order  restored  that  all  offenses  and  violations 
of  law  pertaining  to  the  strike  should  be  immediately  tried  before 
military  courts. 

We  further  request  the  governor  to  take  such  action  as  will 
prevent  the  importation  of  firearms  into  this  State  by  any  individual 
or  any  organization,  because  we  believe  that  no  one  has  a  right  to 
bear  arms  here  except  those  legally  authorized  to  do  so  under  the 
laws  of  the  State  of  Colorado. 

*  »       « 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  we  have  found  in  favor  of  the  miners 
in  four  of  the  six  general  demands  they  have  made  and  have  recog- 
nized their  right  to  work  as  union. 

That  in  declining  to  side  with  the  miners  in  the  other  two  de- 
mands as  stated,  we  have  concluded  that  the  miners  are  already 
receiving  living  wages;  and  have,  at  the  same  time,  found  for 
the  miners  in  their  first  demand,  by  insisting  that  one  of  the  condi- 
tions under  which  this  strike  is  to  be  called  off  is  that  all  competent 
miners  shall  have  guaranteed  to  them  under  the  provisions  of 
the  la  vs  of  the  State  the  right  to  belong  to  any  organization  without 
prejudiv'e  or  discrimination  on  the  part  of  any  employer,  which 
means  th^ir  right  to  work  as  union  miners  on  the  open-shop  plan. 

•  «       « 

Therefore,  in  the  interest  of  the  miners,  of  the  coal  owners,  and 
of  the  p:eneral  public,  we  hereby  declare  that  this  strike  should 
be  called  off  under  the  conditions  stated  above,  in  order  to  insure 
the  future  development  of  the  coal-mining  industry  of  Colorado 
and  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  its  people. 

In  the  carrying  out  of  this  policy  by  the  governor  of  this  State, 
we  pledge  the  support  of  the  editors  and  papers  here  represented 
and  ask  for  the  cooperation  of  all  our  fellow  editors  in  Colorado, 
who  could  not  conveniently  ccnne  to  this  conference,  in  support 
©f  such  policy, 

57 


Also,  that  a  copy  of  this  declaration  be  furnished  to  the  officials 
of  the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America,  a  copy  to  the  coal-mine 
owners,  a  copy  to  the  governor  of  Colorado,  and  that  copies  be 
sent  to  the  press  of  this  State  for  the  purpose  of  advising  the 
people  concerning  what  we  believe  to  be  a  just  and  fair  declaration 
under  the  terms  of  which  this  strike  should  now  be  immediately 
called  off  and  industrial  peace  restored,  and  that  we  pledge  our- 
selves to  support  this  declaration,  based  on  law  enforcement,  in 
the  editorial  columns  of  our  newspapers. 

John  C.  Shaffer,  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  Nenus. 
Frank  S.  Hoag,  of  the  Star  Journal. 
H.  E.  BowDEN,  of  the  Trinidad  Advertiser. 
L.  C.  Paddock,  of  the  Boulder  Camera. 
Fred  Marvin,  of  the  Pueblo  Chieftain. 


THE  ANSWER  OF  THE  COAL-MINE  MANAGERS. 

Messrs.  John  C.  Shaffer,  Frank  S.  Hoag,  H.  E.  Bovvden,  L.  C. 
Paddock,  Fred  Marvin,  Denver,  Colo. 

Gentlemen:  The  undersigned,  coal-mine  operators,  are  in  receipt 

of  a  copy  of  the  proceedings  of  the  conference  of  editors,  held  in 

Denver,   Thursday,    November   13.     In   this   statement  you  specify 

the  conditions  suggested  by  the  editors  under  which  the  coal  miners' 

strike    in    Colorado    should   be    terminated.     We    agree   to  comply 

fully  and   in    good   faith  with  the  conditions  suggested   by  you   in 
said  statement. 


When  the  operators  receive  the  protection  from  the  civil  authori- 
ties for  the  men  who  desire  to  work  and  for  their  properties  to 
which  they  are  entitled,  are  not  interfered  with  in  employing  men 
to  take  the  places  of  those  who  are  now  on  strike  and  who  left 
before  the  strike  was  called,  and  are  enabled  to  operate  their 
mines  under  normal  conditions  to  normal  capacity,  on  the  open-shop 
principle,  which  has  prevailed  in  Colorado  for  more  than  30  years, 
we  will  put  into  effect  the  scale  of  prices  for  coal  heretofore 
prevailing. 
Sincerely, 

J.  F.  Welborn, 
President  Colorado  Fuel  &  Iron  Co. 
D.  W.  Brown, 
Vice  President  Rocky  Mountain  Fuel  Co. 
J.  C.  Osgood, 
Chairman  Board  of  Directors,  The  Victor- American  Fuel  C«. 

F.  B.  Lewis, 
President  Oakdale  Coal  Co.,  South  Canon  Coal  Co. 

F.  A.  Perry, 
Leyden  Coal  Co.,  Moffatt  Coal  Co. 


THE  STRUGGLE  IN  COLORADO 
FOR    INDUSTRIAL   FREEDOM 

No.  12  August  11,  1914 


WHAT  THE  GOVERNOR  OF  COLORADO 

SAYS  OF  THE  "GUNMEN"  OF 
THE  STRIKE. 

In  reply  to  an  inquiry  as  to  the  assertion  that 
what  was  tantamount  to  private  war  being  made 
on  behalf  of  the  coal  mine  managers  against  the 
strikers,  Gov.  Elias  M.  Ammons,  of  Colorado, 
wrote  the  following  letter  to  the  Editor  of  the 
Boulder  (Col.)  "Daily  Camera": 

"Replying  to  your  inquiry  concerning  *gunmen*  con- 
nected with  this  strike  question,  it  is  interesting  to  note  what 
the  facts  really  are. 

"The  National  Guard  was  called  into  the  field  on  Octo- 
ber 28. 

"They  found  a  very  serious  condition  in  the  strike  zone, 
and  a  most  difficult  situation  to  control. 

"They  successfully  handled  numerous  severe  ordeals 
without  firing  a  shot,  refraining  from  resenting  insult  and 
abuse  even  under  most  exasperating  circumstances. 

"Maintaining  as  many  as  forty  stations  scattered  over  a 
territory  greater  in  extent  than  some  station,  the  guard  han- 
dled the  situation  for  almost  six  months  without  shooting  a 
single  striker. 

*  *     * 

WHO  WERE  SHOT  BY  SOLDIERS 

*'It  is  true  two  men  were  shot. 

"One  a  non-union  miner  was  accidentally  killed  while 
trying  to  break  through  the  picket  line;  another  non-union 
miner,  having  shot  a  town  marshal,  was  killed  by  the  guard 
after  he  had  fired  twenty-eight  shots  at  them  in  resisting  ar- 
rest. 

"It  must  be  admitted  that  this  is  a  pretty  record. 

*  *     * 
59 


WHO  WERE  KILLED  BY  STRIKERS 

"But  there  are  other  'gunmen.* 

"Five  men  in  an  automobile  near  La  Veta  were  ambushed 
and  shot,  four  of  them  fatally. 

"This  was  the  result  of  a  plot  by  certain  strikers. 


"A  non-union  miner  named  Smith  was  beaten  to  death 
and  his  body  thrown  on  the  railroad  track  to  be  run  over  by 
a  train. 

"A  cowboy,  mistaken  for  a  deputy  sheriff,  was  shot  to 
death  near  Ludlow. 

"Nine  men  guarding  the  Forbes  mine  were  shot  and 
killed  and  part  of  the  property  burned. 

"Two  children  were  shot  in  bed  at  Tabasco. 

"A  man  guarding  a  railroad  bridge  to  prevent  its  de- 
struction by  fire  was  shot  and  killed. 

"A  Trinidad  business  man  who  had  the  temerity  to  sign 
a  resolution  upholding  the  constituted  authorities  was  beaten 
and  left  for  dead. 

*  *     * 

"In  the  Louisville  district  for  most  of  a  night  and  a  day 
a  perfect  rain  of  bullets  was  poured  into  buildings  containing 

forty  or  fifty  wo(men  and  children,  and  one  man  was  killed. 

"In  other  sections  mines  were  fired  on,  women  and  chil- 
dren placed  in  jeopardy,  and  men  employed  in  their  protec- 
tion were  shot  and  killed. 

"Large  numbers  of  men  were  in  armed  insurrection 
against  the  authorities,  and  many  of  them  were  not  citizens 
of  the  United  States  while  several  of  the  leaders  were  not 
even  residents  of  Colorado. 

"After  the  battle  of  Ludlow,  where  hundreds  of  armed 
men  attempted  the  annihilation  of  the  handful  of  national 
guard  left  in  the  field,  imported  leaders  and  an  inflammatory 
press  through  exaggeration  and  untruth  incited  thousands  to 
riot  and  insurrection,  the  burning  of  property,  and  the  killing 
of  men. 

*  «     * 

WHAT  THE  LOYAL  SOLDIERS  ENDURED 

"The  local  authorities  being  powerless,  the  National 
Guard,  the  only  men  provided  for  such  emergencies,  were 
called  back  into  the  field. 

60 


"Although  the  men  had  not  received  their  pay  for  three 
months  and  were  not  even  comfortably  clothed,  notwith- 
standing they  were  villified  from  behind  and  confronted  with 
overwhelming  armed  forces,  they  responded  to  the  call  to 
duty. 

"Under  most  trying  circumstances,  the  meager  force  of 
a  few  hundred  men  that  could  be  gotten  together  hurriedly 
acquitted  themselves  carefully,  and  successfully  checked  the 
insurrection. 

"In  face  of  the  greatest  danger,  maligned  by  the  public 
press,  the  insurrectionists  encouraged  by  inflammatory  ap- 
peals in  the  centers  of  population,  the  men  conducted  them- 
selves with  grim  heroism  and  performed  a  notable  service  to 
the  state. 

*     »     * 

A  CASE  OF  BUTCHERY 

"The  almost  savagery  of  the  'gunmen'  with  whom  they 
had  to  contend  is  illustrated  by  the  butchery  of  the  wounded 
soldier,  Martin. 

"Weak  from  loss  of  blood  and  unable  to  defend  himself, 
a  revolver  was  placed  in  his  mouth  and  his  head  blown  ofF, 
his  limbs  were  broken  and  his  body  horribly  mutilated. 

"At  Walsenburg,  Major  Lester,  while  engaged  in  caring 
for  a  wounded  soldier  and  while  wearing  the  Red  Cross, 
was  shot  down  and  his  body  rifled  of  valuables  and  even 
clothes. 

"IT  WAS  THE  ACTS  OF  SUCH  'GUNMEN'  THAT  RE- 
QUIRED THE  PRESENCE  OF  THE  NATIONAL  GUARD 
IN  THE  FIELD  AND  KEPT  THEM  THERE. 


"In  the  light  of  misleading  agitation  I  fear  the  people  do 
not  fully  realize  the  importance  of  supporting  the  military 
arm  of  the  government. 

"Without  this  instrument  of  strength  in  times  of  great 
disorder  there  is  nothing  effectual  to  suppress  insurrection; 
and  until  order  can  be  restored  there  can  be  no  assurance 
through  civil  authority  for  the  protection  of  either  life  or 
property. 

"It  seems  to  me  we  should  honor  the  brave  boys  of  the 
National  Guard,  most  of  whom  come  from  the  best  families 
of  the  state  who  gave  or  risked  their  lives  for  the  restoration 
of  peace ;  the  reestablishment  of  personal  and  property  rights 
and  lawful  organized  government." 

61 


THE  STRUGGLE  IN  COLORADO 
FOR  INDUSTRIAL  FREEDOM 

No.  13  August  17.  1914 


THE  ACTIVITIES  IN  COLORADO  OF 
"MOTHER  JONES;^ 

While  it  is  undesirable  to  deal  with  personalities 
in  connection  with  any  great  economic  question, 
the  necessity  for  some  statement  of  facts  is  created 
by  a  peculiarly  inaccurate  article  published  in  the 
Metropolitan  Magazine  for  July,  1914. 

In  this  article  much  is  made  of  the  activities  of 
'^Mother  Jones,"  whose  name  has  frequently  ap- 
peared in  connection  with  this  strike.  Among 
other  things,  the  following  is  cited:  "When  she 
returned  to  Colorado  this  old  lady  of  eighty-two, 
who  was  opposing  extreme  measures,  who  told  the 
miners  not  to  shoot,  but  to  keep  quiet  when  the 
'gunmen'  were  irritating  them,  this  apostle  of 
peace  was  seized  ,by  the  militia  and  put  under 
arrest." 

As  so  many  unwarranted  inferences  have  been 
drawn  from  this  and  other  episodes — as  so  much 
public  sympathy  has  been  sought  on  account  of  the 
alleged  mistreatment  of  "Mother  Jones,"  attention 
should  be  given  to  the  Official  Report  to  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Colorado  and  also  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  by  Gen.  John  Chase,  in  command  of 
the  Military  District  of  Colorado  during  the  strike. 


Gen.  Chase  says: 

"MOTHER  JONES" 

"The  person  known  as  'Mother  Jones'  has  occasioned 
considerable  publicity,  and  some  embarrassment  during  the 
occupation. 

"The  embarrassment  of  her  presence  is  not,  however, 
confined  to  the  military  authorities  by  any  means. 

"It  was  at  one  time  stated  to  me  and  the  Judge  Advocate. 
by  Mr.  McLennan,  one  of  the  principal  strike  leaders,  that 

62 


Mother  Jones  was  invaluable  as  an  organizer  in  the  early 
stages  of  the  strike,  because  she  excited  the  men,  but  had  al- 
ways proved  very  embarrassing  to  the  union  chiefs  in  the 
latter  stages,  particularly  v^hen  there  was  possibility  of  a 
compromise  or  adjustment. 

"McLennan  stated  in  that  conversation  that  Mother 
Jones  was  a  very  headstrong  old  woman,  who  would  not 
submit  to  guidance  or  suggestion  of  any  kind,  even  from 
her  own  people,  and  that  they  had  to  suffer  her  to  do  as  she 
wanted,  oftentimes  to  the  great  annoyance  of  those  in  charge 
of  the  strike. 

"She  is  an  eccentric  and  peculiar  figure,  I  make  no 
mention  of  her  personal  history,  with  which  we  are  not  con- 
cerned. 

"She  seems,  however,  to  have  in  an  exceptional  degree 
the  faculty  of  stirring  up  and  inciting  the  more  ignorant  and 
criminally  disposed  to  deeds  of  violence  and  crime. 

"Prior  to  the  advent  of  the  state's  troops  she  made  a 
series  of  speeches  in  the  strike  zone,  of  which  I  have  authen- 
tic and  verbatim  reports. 

"These  speeches  are  couched  in  course,  vulgar,  and  pro- 
fane language,  and  address  themselves  to  the  lowest  pas- 
sions of  mankind. 

"I  CONFIDENTLY  BELIEVE  THAT  MOST  OF  THE 
MURDERS  AND  OTHER  ACTS  OF  VIOLENT  CRIME 
COMMITTED  IN  THE  STRIKE  REGION  HAVE  BEEN  IN- 
SPIRED BY  THIS  WOMAN'S  INCENDIARY  UTTER- 
ANCES. 

"The  fact  that  she  is  a  woman  and  advanced  in  years 
she  uses  as  a  shield,  as  well  as  a  means  of  invoking  popular 
sympathetic  sentiment  in  case  of  her  incarceration. 

"She   is   undoubtedly   a   most   dangerous   factor  in   the 

peace  problem. 

*     *     * 

"I  am  informed  that  she  was  so  found  in  West  Virginia 
and  elsewhere  that  disturbance  and  anarchy  held  sway. 

"She  was  held  for  murder  in  West  Virginia,  and  I  am 
advised  that  her  police  record  is  In  the  possession  of  the 
PInkerton  Detective  Agency.* 

DEFIED  THE  STATE  GOVERNMENT. 

"As  Your  Excellency  is  fully  aware,  she  defied  all  gov- 
ernment and  all  authority  of  the  Governor  to  Your  Ex- 
cellency. 


[•Referred  to  in  detail  in  speech  by  Congressman  George  Kindel 
of  Colorado,  before  House  of  Representatives,  June  13,  1914.  Pub- 
lished in  full  in  "Congressional  Record"  for  that  date.] 

63 


"Every  effort  was  made  to  induce  her  to  remain  away 
from  the  troubled  district,  and  the  co-operation  in  that 
respect  of  the  strike  leaders  was  invited. 

"These  latter,  however,  while  evincing  a  disposition  to 
keep  Mother  Jones  out  of  the  territory,  frankly  confessed 
their  inability  to  do  so. 

"She  came  to  Trinidad,  after  publicly  declaring  her  in- 
tention  to  incite  trouble. 


"In  view  of  her  history  in  other  places  and  the  evident 
effects  of  her  incendiary  utterances  in  Colorado,  Your  Ex- 
cellency deemed  it  wise  and  even  necessary,  as  a  military 
measure,  to  restrain  Mother  Jones  of  her  liberty  so  long  as 
she  persisted  in  remaining  in  the  strike  region. 

"Accordingly,  upon  the  day  of  her  arrival  in  Trinidad  I 
arrested  her  and  placed  her  in  San  Rafael  Hospital,  upon  the 
outskirts  of  the  city,  where  she  was  given  every  attention 
conducive  to  her  comfort. 

"She  was  advised  that  she  was  always  at  entire  liberty  to 
leave  the  disturbed  parts  of  the  state,  but  she  pertinaciously 
and  with  great  contumacy  insisted  on  remaining  in  imprison- 
ment. 

"It  was  avowedly  present  in  her  mind  to  excite  sympathy 
for  the  union  cause  by  submitting  to  a  continued  incarcera- 
tion, and  with  that  in  mind  she  was  at  first  very  angry  that 
she  had  been  so  nicely  restrained  at  the  hospital,  instead  of 
being  confined  in  a  common  jail,  of  which  she  felt  she  would 
be  able  to  make  more  capital. 

"After  many  weeks'  confinement,  however,  she  sought  a 
confidential  interview  with  Colonel  Davis,  commanding  the 
central  camp  at  Trinidad,  in  which  she  discussed  ways  and 
means  of  bringing  about  her  departure  and  at  the  same  time 
saving  her  face. 

"Being  anxious  only  to  get  rid  of  the  incendiary  woman, 
her  suggestion  that  she  be  permitted  to  go  to  Denver,  osten- 
sibly to  see  Your  Excellency,  and  that,  if  liberated  at  that 
place,  she  would  depart  upon  some  excuse  of  her  own,  was 
readily  adopted. 

REPUDIATES  HER  OWN  PROPOSAL. 

"Upon  her  own  suggestion,  she  was  brought  to  Denver 
and  liberated  as  suggested,  but  she  promptly  repudiated  the 
rest  of  her  proposal,  and,  after  interviewing  her  attorney  and 
strike  leaders,  and  remaining  in  Denver  for  three  or  four 

64 


days,  she  returned  to  the  strike  district,  where  again,  by 
Your  Excellency's  directions,  I  have  had  the  unpleasant  duty 
of  detaining  her. 

"She  was  again  notified  that  she  was  free  to  leave  the 
district  at  any  time  she  wished.  She  returned  to  the  strike 
district,  not  for  the  transaction  of  any  business,  or  for  any 
other  purpose  than  to  defy  the  power  of  the  state,  and,  as 
she  stated  in  numerous  interviews,  *to  establish  her  constitu- 
tional right  to  go  where  she  pleased,'  and  in  open  defiance  of 
the  power  and  authority  vested  in  the  chief  executive.'* 


TELEGRAM  TO  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES 

"I  am  directed  by  the  Governor  of  Colorado  to  Inform 
the  President  of  the  United  States  that  one  Mary  Jones, 
alias  'Mother'  Jones,  is  and  always  has  been  at  entire  liberty 
to  leave  the  disturbed  district,  but  insists  upon  remaining, 
avowedly  to  make  incendiary  speeches. 

"She  is  confined  with  comfort  in  a  pleasant  room  in  a 
large  church  hospital,  as  a  necessary  peace  precaution,  in  view 
of  her  history  elsewhere. 

"March  8  a  non-union  miner  was  atrociously  murdered 
near  the  union  tent  colony  at  Forbes  in  the  strike  zone,  to 
which  colony  the  murderers  were  easily  tracked. 

"This  murder  was  significant  just  at  this  time. 

"At  the  urgent  request  of  the  sheriff,  all  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  this  small  colony  were  arrested — sixteen  men. 

"There  were  no  women  or  children. 

"The  tents  were  ordered  removed,  to  forestall  further 
outlawry. 

"Colorado  has  maintained  peace  and  preserved  its  consti- 
tution and  laws  with  its  own  patriotic  volunteer  militia, 
thankless,  self-sacrificing,  patiently,  silent  under  abuse. 

"The  silence  that  military  rule  and  necessity  enjoin  I  am 
directed  to  break,  that  the  President  may  be  advised." 

(Signed)     JOHN  CHASE, 

Brigadier  General, 
Commanding  the  Military  District  of  Colorado. 


65 


THE  STRUGGLE  IN  COLORADO 
FOR  INDUSTRIAL  FREEDOM 

BULLETIN  No.  14  DENVER,  AUGUST  25,  1914 


WHY  THE  STRIKE  WAS  FORCED 
ON  COLORADO  MINERS 

Of  transcendent  consequence  is  the  fact  that  the 
Colorado  coal  strike  was  not  due  to  dissatisfaction 
of  the  men  with  their  working  conditions. 

There  were  petty  grievances,  of  course.  The 
14,000  men  working  in  the  mines  of  this  district 
earned  the  highest  wages  paid  in  any  coal  mining 
region  in  the  United  States.  They  had  made  no 
demands  for  general  changes  in  conditions. 

But  the  Union  decided  at  its  headquarters  in 
Indianapolis  that  there  should  be  a  strike. 
Agitators  were  accordingly  sent  to  Colorado  to 
stir  up  trouble  and  to  arouse  the  men  to  fancied 
grievances. 

Recognition  of  the  Union  was  the  underlying 
motive  of  the  strike  plan. 

Why  should  that  be  so  important  to  the  Union  ? 
Why  should  it  be  of  importance  for  the  Union  to 
force  itself  upon  a  mining  community,  even  when 
there  were  no  wrongs  to  redress,  no  demand  by 
the  men  for  the  Union's  assistance? 

#  *  *  * 

WHY  COLORADO  WAS  ATTACKED 

Colorado  miners  are  the  best  paid  in  the  country. 
"Recognition"  of  the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America 
means  in  effect  that  every  man  in  the  mine  must  be  a  member 
of  the  Union.  Every  mine  is  required  to  pay  the  Union  dues 
and  assessments  first  out  of  the  man's  pay. 

In  brief^  "  Recognition  "  of  this  Union  means  submission 
to  this  system  of  "  checking-off  "  Union  dues,  fines  and  assess- 
ments before  any  man  can  be  paid  the  wages  he  has  earned. 

These  assessments  may  be  made  by  the  Union's  officers  at 
any  time  and  for  any  purpose.    For  example,  out  of  the  wages 

66 


oi  miners  in  other  sections  of  the  country  than  Colorado  had 
to  be  ''  checked-off  "  the  funds  to  meet  the  expenses  incident 
to  stirring  up  the  strike  in  Colorado. 

*  *    *    * 

The  Committee  in  charge  of  the  campaign  in  Colorado 
consisted  of  Frank  J.  Hayes,  John  McLennan  and  John  R. 
Lawson.  The  report  of  the  Secretary-Treasurer  of  the  general 
organization  covering  the  period  ending  November  30,  1913, 
shows  that  out  of  the  daily  wages  of  the  miners  of  the  country 
there  had  been  collected  money  to  pay,  among  other  things, 
salaries  and  expenses  as  follows  : 

Frank  J.  Hayes,  nine  weeks'  salary  .     .      $4052.92 

Frank  J.  Hayes,  nine  weeks'  expenses  .        1667.20 

Total  for  salary  and  expenses    .     .      $5720.12 

Frank  J.  Hayes  was  thus  paid  over  $90  a  day,  or  at  the 
rate  of  over  $32,000  a  year. 

For  this  same  period  of  nine  weeks,  John  McLennan 
received  for  salary  $2683.55;  for  expenses  $1469.55 — 
$66  a  day. 

John  R.  Lawson  received  for  nine  weeks*  salary  $1773.40. 

Mother  Jones,  whose  sole  duty  was  to  agitate,  received 
$2668.62  as  salary  for  the  same  period— $42  a  day. 

*  *    *    * 

Colorado  miners  with  their  high  wages  evidently  offered  a 
glittering    prospect    to   the   treasury   of    the    United    Mine 

Workers  of  America. 

*  *    *    * 

MINERS  NOT  RESPONSIBLE 
Up  to  the  time  the  strike  was  called,  however,  but  few  of 
the  workmen  had  responded  to  the  urgent  appeals  to  join  the 
Union.  The  records  showed  that  on  May  31,  1913,  in  the 
three  States  of  Colorado,  Utah  and  New  Mexico,  where  23,000 
men  were  employed  in  coal  mines,  only  2048  were  members 
of  the  Union. 

The  strike  in  southern  Colorado  was  nominally  called  by  a 
so-called  convention  "  held  in  Trinidad.  Two  hundred  and 
fifty  "delegates"  were  present:  100  were  striking  and  idle 
miners  from  the  northern  Colorado  coal  field ;  about  50  were 
officers  and  paid  employes  of  the  Union ;  the  rest  were  selected 
by  those  in  charge  of  the  convention. 

A  careful  poll  by  the  Colorado  Fuel  and  Iron  Company  at 
its  mines  a  few  days  before  the  strike  showed  from  90  to  99 
per  cent,  of  the  men  opposed  to  the  proposition. 

*  *    *    * 

When  the  strike  was  called  only  4650  men  laid  down  their 
tools.      Many  left  through   intimidation;    others  took  their 

67 


families  away  to  avoid  the  threatened  bloodshed.  Many  men 
returned  to  work  almost  immediately. 

The  Union  provided  tents  for  the  strikers  to  live  in  while 
the  strike  was  in  progress.  Many  nominal  "strikers"  were 
naturally  employed  from  outside  to  go  and  stay  in  the  tent 
colonies. 

As  the  real  strikers  returned  to  work  or  left  the  district, 
other  outsiders  were  sent  to  recruit  the  tent  colonies. 

At  the  present  time,  although  the  mine  managers  are  pre- 
vented by  the  Federal  Government  from  soliciting  new  men 
to  work  their  mines,  the  tent  colonies  are  constantly  receiv- 
ing additions  from  outside — not  from  the  w^orking  miners. 

Instead  of  the  managers  hiring  miners,  the  Union  is  hiring 

**  strikers." 

*    *    *    * 

TESTIMONY  OF  A  SOLDIER 

That  the  Union  men  of  the  country  who  are  contributing 
to  maintain  this  appearance  of  an  effective  strike  are  being 
misled  is  indicated  by  the  following  statement  by  Captain 
Hildreth  Frost,  of  Company  A,  Second  Infantry,  N.  G.  C, 
who  was  also  Judge  Advocate  in  one  of  the  districts  of 
Colorado  during  the  military  occupation  of  the  strike  zone  : 

"My  district  included  the  producing  mines  of  Wocton, 
Morley,  Starkville,  Piedmont,  Sopris,  Cokedale  and  Mc- 
Laughlin and  the  coke  ovens  of  Sopris  and  Cokedale,  with  a 
population  of  the  district  of  between  six  and  eight  thousand. 

"There  was  one  tent  colony  in  my  district  and  a  large 
number  of  strikers  and  their  supporters. 

"  I  took  a  careful  census  of  the  entire  district  and  either 
myself  or  one  of  my  lieutenants  personally  examined  the  Union 
cards  of  practically  every  Union  man  in  the  District. 

*  *    *    * 

"  We  found  approximately  700  men  in  the  District  holding 
Union  cards.  Every  card  bears  the  stamp  of  the  date  the  man 
joined  the  Union. 

**I  found  only  ONE  card  of  a  resident  of  the  District  w^ho 
was  m  member  of  the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America  prior 
to  or  at  the  time  the  strike  was  ordered  a  year  ago  this  July, 
AND  ONLY  FOUR  OR  FIVE  WHO  WERE  MEMBERS 
OF  THE  UNION  PRIOR  TO  THE  TIME  THE  STRIKE 
WAS  ACTUALLY  COMMENCED  ON  SEPTEMBER 
23,  1913. 

*  *      ¥t      * 

"I  found  that  less  than  300  of  the  approximately  700 
Union  card  holders  in  my  District  were  actually  in  any  coal 
mine  in  southern  Colorado  at  the  time  the  strike  was  called. 

"  The  balance  of  the  700  had  simply  joined  the  Union  to 
swell  its  apparent  strength  and  to  draw  the  $3.00  a  week 
stipend." 

68 


THE  STRUGGLE  IN  COLORADO 
FOR  INDUSTRIAL  FREEDOM 

BULLETIN  No.  15  DENVER,  SEPTEMBER  4,  1914 


THE  EFFECT  OF  CLOSING  SALOONS  IN 

COLORADO  COAL  MINING 

DISTRICT 

In  the  Western  Christian  Advocate  for  June  8, 
1914,  a  writer  criticises  Colorado  coal  mine 
managers  for  their  policies  in  respect  to 

Camp  Marshals, 

Deductions  from  Employes'  Pay  Rolls,  and 

The  operation  of  saloons  at  the  mining  camps. 

Concerning  these  criticisms,  Mr.  J.  F.  Wel- 
born,  President  of  The  Colorado  Fuel  and  Iron 
Company,  the  largest  of  the  Colorado  mining 
companies,  makes  this  statement  specifically  as 
to  the  practices  of  his  own  company : 

CAMP  MARSHALS 

"Camp  marshals,  who  in  many  instances  are  regularly 
elected  constables,  are  employed  only  in  the  larger  coal  camps. 

"  Their  general  duties  are  very  much  the  same  as  those  of 
the  peace  officer  in  villages  and  small  towns  throughout  the 
United  States.  In  addition,  they  have  charge  of  the  sanitary 
conditions  of  the  camps  and  the  general  repair  and  care  of 
tenant  houses. 

At  Colorado  Fuel  and  Iron  Company  camps,  numbering 
22,  and  employing  from  5000  to  6000  men,  representing  a 
population  of  approximately  15,000,  there  were  employed  im- 
mediately prior  to  the  strike  only  seven  camp  marshals,  or  one 
for  every  three  camps. 


69 


" The  camp  marshals  are  neither  '  gunmen '  nor  thugs,  and 
are  chosen  for  the  duties  assigned  to  them  with  the  same  view 
to  their  fitness  for  that  work  that  is  exercised  in  the  selection 
of  other  employes  for  particular  work. 

"  The  marshal  is  often  the  one  man  in  the  camp  to  whom 
the  employes  tell  their  troubles,  both  real  and  imaginary. 

'*  He  does  not,  as  is  charged,  assault  the  miners,  and  they 
are  free  to  complain  of  him  or  anyone  else  without  danger  of 
being  discharged. 

■Jt     *     -x-     -x- 

DEDUCTIONS  ON    PAY   ROLLS 

'*  The  statement  is  made  that  '  a  study  of  the  pay  rolls 
shows  how  few  of  the  miners  receive  in  cash  anywhere  near 
the  amount  of  their  earnings.' 

"  Colorado  coal  miners  are  paid  twice  per  month.  During 
the  fiscal  year  preceding  the  strike  the  employes  at  The 
Colorado  Fuel  and  Iron  Company  coal  mines  received  80.9 
per  cent,  of  their  earnings  in  cash. 

"  Of  the  19.1  per  cent,  of  all  earnings  deducted  by  the 
company  before  making  payment  to  the  men,  11.73  per  cent, 
represented  purchases  at  our  stores ;  2.25  per  cent,  represented 
rent  of  houses;  and  the  remaining  5.12  per  cent,  represented 
coal,  board,  hospital,  powder  and  the  customary  charge  of  50 
cents  per  month  for  sharpening  tools. 

■X       *       *       * 

"  During  the  same  fiscal  year  The  Colorado  Fuel  and 
Iron  Company  mines  worked  an  average  of  248/^  days. 

"THE  MINERS  EARNED  AN  AVERAGE  OF  $4.02 
PER  DAY,  AND  $999.36  FOR  THE  YEAR. 

♦•THEY  WERE  PAID  IN  CASH  AN  AVERAGE  OF 
OVER  $800  FOR  THE  YEAR'S  WORK. 

"  They  do  not  have  to  wait  two  weeks  after  their  month's 
work  before  being  paid,  but  receive  payment  on  an  average  of 
not  more  than  seven  days  after  the  closing  of  each  half 
month's  period. 


70 


SALOONS 

It  is  charged  that  some  of  the  coal  companies  maintain 
their  own  saloons  for  their  men  and  issue  scrip  to  their  em- 
ployes for  use  in  the  company  saloons;  while  in  other  places 
exclusive  saloon  privilege  in  a  camp  has  been  granted  to  a 
saloon  keeper,  and  he  is  charged  25  cents  to  40  cents  for  every 
man  whose  name  appears  on  the  company  pay  roll.' 

The  Colorado  Fuel  and  Iron  Company  neither  operates 
saloons  nor  grants  saloon  privileges  for  a  consideration  based 
on  the  number  of  men  employed  or  the  amount  of  liquor 
consumed. 

At  five  of  its  camps,  located  some  distance  from  the 
nearest  town,  it  gives  leases,  revocable  at  will,  on  buildings  at 
a  reasonable  rental  rate  to  tenants  who  operate  saloons  under 
very  strict  regulations  providing  for  early  closing,  the  main- 
tenance of  strict  order,  and  the  closing  on  occasions  of  any 
unusual  excitement  on  request  of  the  mine  superintendent. 

"The  other  camps  of  The  Colorado  Fuel  and  Iron  Com- 
pany are  located  within  or  near  towns  having  a  number  of 
saloons,  with  which  the  company  has  nothing  to  do  either 
directly  or  indirectly. 

•X-      -x-      *      * 

**  The  officers  of  The  Colorado  Fuel  and  Iron  Company 
believe  in  the  policy  adopted  by  certain  important  railroads 
prohibiting  the  use  of  intoxicating  drinks  by  their  employes 
both  on  and  off  duty,  but  many  of  the  coal  mine  employes 
demand  their  liquor,  and  unfortunately  some  will  not  work 
where  it  cannot  be  obtained. 

"  Experience  shows  that  where  no  saloon  is  immediately 
available  many  workmen  go  as  far  as  is  necessary  to  find  one, 
and  there  spend  Saturday  nights,  Sundays  and  holidays,  often 
returning  unfit  for  work  until  after  a  day  or  two  of  rest,  and 
the  general  service  is  always  greatly  disorganized  by  the  inca- 
pacity of  a  few. 

*'  With  the  advent  of  the  Federal  troops  all  saloons  in  the 
coal  mining  districts  were  closed,  and  as  a  result  the  efficiency 
of  the  workmen  has  greatly  improved,  the  average  production 
of  coal  per  man  increasing  about  10  per  cent. 

71 


"The  production  at  this  Company's  mines  in  the  Southern 
district  of  Colorado  for  the  first  eighteen  days  of  April  aver- 
aged 5.85  tons  per  day  for  each  miner  at  work.  That  was 
before  the  Federal  troops  closed  the  saloons. 

'*For  the  first  eighteen  days  of  June  (with  all  saloons 
closed)  each  man  produced  6.52  tons,  which  meant  an  average 
increase  in  wages  of  over  11  per  cent,  per  man. 

"  This  has  confirmed  the  view  long  held  by  us,  that  if  sa- 
loons  and  drinking  could  be  eliminated  from  the  coal  districts, 
not  only  the  miners  but  the  companies  ivould  be  greatly 
benefited. 


"What  I  have  said  applies  specifically  to  the  Colorado 
Fuel  and  Iron  Company,  but  I  think,  in  a  general  way,  is  true 
of  the  coal  mining  industry  in  the  State." 


72 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
BERKELEY 


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'"^  It  fSt? 
APR  S4 1922 


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